The first American Pope found a way to indirectly celebrate Thanksgiving: by making his first foreign visit a trip to Turkey

Liu was received on the tarmac of Esenboga Airport in Ankara by a military honor guard. As he walked around on a turquoise carpet, he shook hands with Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, other officials and prominent church figures from Türkiye.

Later, a meeting was scheduled with president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a speech to the country’s diplomatic corps. He is then scheduled to move late Thursday to Istanbul to attend ecumenical meetings and interfaith dialogue for three days, followed by the Lebanese leg of his trip.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane, Liu acknowledged the historic nature of his first overseas trip and said he was looking forward to it for what it means for Christians and for peace in the world.

Liu said he knew the visit to commemorate a key ecumenical anniversary was important for Christians. But he said he hoped his broader message of peace would resonate around the world.

“We also hope to announce, convey and proclaim how important peace is throughout the world. We call on all people to come together to seek greater unity and greater harmony and to seek ways in which all men and women can truly be brothers and sisters despite differences, despite differences of religions, despite differences of beliefs.”

Liu’s visit comes as Turkey, a country with a population of more than 85 million, the majority of whom are Sunni Muslims, presents itself as a key mediator in peace negotiations for the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Ankara has hosted rounds of low-level talks between Russia and Ukraine and has offered to participate in a stabilization force in Gaza to help maintain the fragile ceasefire, commitments that Liu may praise in his arrival speech.

Reaction in Türkiye

Turkey’s growing military weight, as NATO’s largest army after the United States, has drawn Western leaders closer to Erdogan even as critics warn of his crackdown on the country’s main opposition party.

Although support for the Palestinians and ending the war in Ukraine is widespread in Turkey, international politics are a secondary concern for Turks who face an ongoing cost-of-living crisis due to market turmoil caused by tremors in domestic politics.

This may explain why Liu’s visit was largely ignored by many in Türkiye, at least outside the country’s small Christian community.

“I didn’t know he was coming,” Sukran Çelebi said. “He is welcome.” “It would be good if he called for peace in the world, but I don’t think it would change anything.”

Some said they believed the visit by the first American pope in history was aimed at promoting US interests, or perhaps to press for the reopening of a Greek Orthodox seminary that has become a focal point in the push for religious freedoms in Turkey.

“If the pope is visiting, it means America wants something from Türkiye,” said Metin Erdem, a musical instrument shop owner in Istanbul’s tourist district of Galata.

Historical anniversary

Leo’s main motivation for traveling to Türkiye was to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the first Christian ecumenical council.

Leo will pray with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, at the site of a 325 AD gathering in Iznik today in northwestern Turkey, and sign a joint declaration in a clear sign of Christian unity.

The Eastern and Western Churches were united until the Great Schism of 1054, a schism that was largely precipitated by disputes over the primacy of the pope.

While the visit comes on an important Catholic Orthodox anniversary occasion, it will also allow Leo to strengthen the church’s relations with Muslims. Liu is scheduled to visit the Blue Mosque and chair an interfaith meeting in Istanbul.

Asgin Tonca, the imam of the Blue Mosque who will receive the Pope, said the visit would help strengthen Christian-Muslim relations and dispel popular prejudices about Islam.

“We want to reflect that image by showing the beauty of our religion through our hospitality – this is God’s command,” Tonka said.

Religious freedom in Türkiye

Since coming to power in 2002, Erdogan’s government has enacted reforms to improve the rights of religious groups, including opening places of worship and returning confiscated property.

However, some Christian groups face legal and bureaucratic problems when trying to register churches, according to a US State Department report on religious freedom.

The Catholic Church, which has about 33,000 members in Turkey, has no official legal recognition in the country, “and this is the source of many problems,” said Father Paolo Polisi, head of the Capuchin Catholic friars in Turkey.

He added: “But the Catholic Church is of remarkable importance because we have international standing… and we have the Pope who supports us.”

Potential tensions

One of the most sensitive moments of Leo’s visit will come on Sunday, when he visits the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in Istanbul. The cathedral has hosted all the popes who have visited Türkiye since Paul VI, with the exception of Francis, who visited Türkiye in 2014 when its patriarch was ill.

Francis visited him in hospital, and a few months later he greatly angered Türkiye in 2015 when he declared that the slaughter of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks was “the first genocide of the 20th century.” Türkiye, which has long denied genocide, recalled its ambassador to the Holy See in protest.

Leo tends to be more measured than Francis in his public statements, and using such terms on Turkish soil would spark a diplomatic incident. But the Vatican is also going through a difficult moment in its relations with Armenia, after its interfaith initiatives towards Azerbaijan came under criticism.