MOSCOW, November 28 (Sputnik) – Pope Francis is expected to arrive in Turkey Friday on a three-day visit to Ankara and Istanbul, Hurriyet Daily News reports Friday.
According to the report, Pope Francis is to visit the mausoleum of the first Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatuerk in Ankara, meet with the current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and several officials.
On Saturday, the pontiff will make his way to Istanbul to meet with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch. Patriarch Bartholomew is to receive Pope Francis at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.
Pope Francis will become the fourth pontiff to visit Turkey. The first was Pope Paul VI, who visited the country in 1967, followed by John Paul II in 1979 and Benedict XVI in 2006.
