Catholic World News News Feature
Pope arrives in Turkey for high-stakes visit November 28, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Turkey on November 28 to begin the 5th foreign voyage of his pontificate.
The Pope's plane touched down at Esemboga airport, outside Ankara, just before 1 in the afternoon. The apostolic nuncio in Turkey, Archbishop Antonio Lucibello, immediately boarded the plane to greet the Holy Father.
When he emerged from the plane, Pope Benedict was greeted by Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who had made a last-minute change in his own travel schedule to greet the papal plane. After a short exchange of greetings-- with the Turkish premier saying that he considered the papal visit "very meaningful," and the Pontiff referring to Turkey as "a bridge" between East and West-- the two men adjourned to a private airport lounge for a private conversation.
Sitting under a large portrait of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, the Pope and the Turkish prime minister spoke for about 20 minutes. The Pontiff reportedly asked for Erdogan's help in the cause of dialogue between cultures, and the Turkish leader replied that his government was committed to that cause.
Immediately after their airport meeting, Erdogan flew to Latvia for a meeting of NATO leaders, while the Pope traveled in a bulletproof car to the mausoleum of Ataturk.
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