Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on Thursday at the start of his official visit to Turkey.
The pontiff stopped at Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of the Republic’s founder, where he toured the museum and placed a red and white wreath at the monument’s steps.
In the Book of Honour he wrote: ‘I give thanks to God for being able to visit Turkey, and I invoke upon this country and its people an abundance of peace and prosperity.’
The visit marked the Pope’s first engagement in Ankara before heading to the Presidential Palace for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.