ROME - The Turkish ambassador to Italy said Wednesday that Pope Francis’ words concerning the Armenian ‘genocide’ had “disappointed Turkey” but that Ankara will not sever diplomatic ties with the Holy See.

 The comments, in an interview with Il Messaggero newspaper, have come as the latest development in a furore, which has blown up following Francis’ comments in an Armenian Catholic rite at Saint Peter’s Basilica on Sunday.

 Francis referred to the mass killing of Armenians as the “first genocide of the 20th century,” before mentioning the subsequent Nazi and Soviet instigated genocides. According to certain historians, up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed during the First World War period and its aftermath.

 “It’s a disappointment because during his visit to Turkey, the Pope expressed thoughts of peace and reconciliation on the Armenian question,"  Aydin Adnan Sezgin told Il Messaggero. "We continue to respect the Holy Father as the highest moral authority of the Christian world but his unjust accusation deserved an answer."

 Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the Pope’s words but has stated that Turkey would be willing to take part in any historical inquiry.

 “I want to repeat our call to establish a joint commission of historians and stress we are ready to open our archives,” said Erdogan. “I want to warn the Pope to not repeat this mistake and condemn his words."

 Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the US State Department waded into the argument, demanding a “full and frank” acknowledgement of the mass killings but stopped short of describing them as genocide.