28/11/2014 10:28
Pope Francis due in Turkey for historic visit
Pope Francis will arrive in Turkey shortly for what is billed as a historic trip to help interfaith dialogue in the country, the BBC reported.
At the start of the three-day tour he is set to meet newly-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
He then plans to visit Istanbul for a meeting with the head of the Orthodox Christian church.
It will be only the fourth time in history that a pope has visited Muslim-majority Turkey.
During his trip Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Istanbul's Sultan Ahmed mosque, the 17th Century place of worship popularly known as the Blue Mosque.
He is also due to sign a joint declaration with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians, on trying to bridge the divides between Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity.
The visit comes at a time of heightened political sensitivity in the region.
Turkey is now home to at least 1.6 million refugees from war-torn Syria, most of them living close to the border separating the two countries.