But the U.S. State Department has accused its leaders of having ties to the al Qaeda terrorist network and of hoping to drive a wedge between Nigeria's Christian and Muslim communities.
Mr. Andreotti was prime minister of that coalition when Aldo Moro, a fellow Christian Democrat leader, was kidnapped in March 1978 by the Red Brigades, a left-leaning terrorist group.
"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attacks today in Istanbul, where Turkey's diverse religious communities of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian believers have flourished together for centuries, " he said.