Pope Francis ends Armenia visit at closed border amid anger in Ankara

Pope Francis wrapped up his trip to Armenia on Sunday with an open-air liturgy and a visit to the Orthodox country's closed border with Turkey amid new tensions with Ankara over his recognition of the 1915 "genocide".

Turkey issued a harsh rebuttal late on Saturday to Francis's declaration that the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago was planned genocide. Turkish deputy prime minister Nurettin Canikli called the comments "greatly unfortunate" and said they bore the hallmarks of the "mentality of the Crusades".