Türkiye and the Vatican established diplomatic relations in April 1960. Two years later, in 1962, embassies began to operate. Since then, four different popes have visited Türkiye: Paul VI in 1967, John Paul II in 1979, Benedict XVI in 2006 and finally Francis in 2014. Pope Leo XIV’s visit was the fifth papal visit to Türkiye.
Pope Leo paid an official visit to Türkiye last week, from Thursday to Sunday. The visit was the Pope’s first foreign visit since his election last May as the leader of the Catholic Church. National and international media described the trip as highly symbolic.
Many discussions were held, especially in the Turkish media. Because the Pope has two roles, one political as the head of the Vatican City State and one religious as the leader of the Catholic Church, the visit was examined from multiple perspectives. While some viewed the visit strictly through a political lens and others approached it from a theo-political angle, much of the discussion ultimately lacked proper context.
In this short piece, I will try to summarize the main political reasons and implications of the visit by listing s
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