Officers in riot gear blocked around 150 protesters near Rome’s Tiber River as Mr Edrogan paid the first Vatican visit by a Turkish head of state in 59 years.
One protester suffered a bloody gash on his head in the scuffle. Police said another was detained.
Turkey last month launched a military offensive in a Kurdish-held enclave in Syria. The Turkish government said the US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia there is a terrorist organisation and an extension of Kurdish insurgents fighting within Turkey.
Both the Turkish and Vatican sides described the private talks as cordial. Francis and Mr Erdogan have made plain their concern over the Trump administration’s decision two months ago to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Mr Erdogan, in an interview with Italian daily newspaper La Stampa, said he and the Pope had already spoken by telephone about the Jerusalem issue and said both of them favoured working to maintain the status quo for the city considered holy by three religions.
In a brief statement, the Holy See said Francis and Mr Erdogan discussed the Middle East “with particular reference to the status of Jerusalem, highlighting the need to promote peace and stability in the region through dialogue and negotiation, with respect for human rights and international law”.
The pope and Erdogan previously met in…
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