The papal plane took off from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport on Thursday, bound for Ankara, Turkiye.

Axar.az informs, citing Vatican news, Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Journey to Turkiye and Lebanon begins in Ankara, where his first stop will be at the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the father of the Republic of Turkiye.

The Pope will then be welcomed to the Presidential Palace to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and deliver an address to the civil authorities and diplomatic corps.

He will then reboard the papal plane and travel to Istanbul, where he will reside at the Apostolic Nunciature for the remainder of his visit to Turkiye.