Pope Francis To Arrive in Turkey on 3-Day Official Visit

Pope Francis is to spend the first day of his trip to Turkey in Ankara and on Saturday and Sunday he is to visit Istanbul. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Pope Francis will arrive in Turkey on a three-day official visit at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Pope Francis is to visit the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Atat?rk’s mausoleum in the capital Ankara, after which he will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his newly built extravagant presidential palace.

Pope Francis is also to meet with the head of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) of Turkey, according to reports of H?rriyet Daily News.

Pope Francis will then travel to Istanbul on Saturday and Sunday, visiting Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmet mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque.

In Istanbul, Pope Francis is to meet with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.

The 77-year-old Argentinian pontiff is the fourth pope to visit Turkey after Benedict in 2006, John Paul II in 1979 and Paul VI in 1967.

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