Overview
- He arrived in Ankara, paid respects at the Anıtkabir mausoleum, then met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before addressing officials and diplomats.
- In his Ankara speech, he asked that Turkey be “a source of stability and rapprochement between peoples,” and has been calling for ceasefires in current conflicts, including Ukraine.
- He will travel to Iznik to join Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for prayer and a joint declaration marking 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea.
- The Vatican says he will deliver all trip speeches in English, with more than 80 journalists accompanying the papal delegation.
- The journey continues to Lebanon on Sunday for meetings and moments of prayer, including at the Beirut port blast site, with security shaped by regional tensions.