The 77-year-old will become only the fourth Pontiff to visit the Muslim-majority nation
Pope Francis begins a three-day visit to Turkey on Friday, during which
he is due to discuss threats to Christian communities in the Middle East with
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After meeting Erdogan, the 77-year-old Argentine will travel to
Istanbul over the weekend. He claims to want to forge a closer relationship
between the Catholic Church and the Muslim world, reports Al Jazeera.
Turkey boasts only around 80,000 Christians compared to 75 million
Muslims. The nation has hit the headlines in recent months as a launching point
for jihadists wanting to join the sectarian slaughter wreaked by groups such as
the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS.)
A radical Sunni cult, ISIS has vowed to exterminate both the region’s
Shia Muslims and Christian sects such as the Yazidis.
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