Pope Leo XIV encourages Turkiye to be force for stability, peace

Ankara: Pope Leo XIV encouraged Turkiye to be a source of stability and dialogue in a world riven by conflict, as he opened his first foreign trip as pope on Thursday with a plea for peace amid efforts to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

The American pope emphasised a message of peace as he arrived in Ankara, welcomed on the tarmac by a military guard of honour and at the presidential palace by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Speaking to Erdogan and the country’s diplomatic corps at a library in the palace complex, Leo praised Turkiye’s historic role as a bridge between East and West, at the crossroads of religions and cultures. “May Turkiye be a source of stability and rapprochement between peoples, in service of a just and lasting peace,” he said, speaking in front of a giant globe. “Today, more than ever, we need people who will promote dialogue and practice it with firm will and patient resolve.” Leo’s visit comes as Turkiye has cast itself as a key intermediary in efforts to end the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Ankara has hosted rounds of talks with Russia and with Ukraine and offered to take part in the stabilization force in Gaza to help oversee a fragile ceasefire. Israel, which has had rocky relations with Turkiye for years, accuses Ankara of supporting Hamas and has ruled out any role for Turkish troops in a stabilization force.

Leo didn’t cite the conflicts specifically, but he quoted his predecessor, Pope Francis, in lamenting that the wars ravaging the world today amount to a “third world war fought piecemeal,” with resources spent on armaments instead of fighting hunger and poverty and protecting creation.