ZB ZB
Live now
Start time
Playing for
End time
Listen live
Listen to NAME OF STATION
Up next
Listen live on
ZB

Pope arrives in Turkey for inter-faith talks

Author
AAP,
Publish Date
Sat, 29 Nov 2014, 6:49AM
Pope Francis (Getty Images)
Pope Francis (Getty Images)

Pope arrives in Turkey for inter-faith talks

Author
AAP,
Publish Date
Sat, 29 Nov 2014, 6:49AM

Pope Francis has called for dialogue between faiths to end the Islamist extremism plaguing the Middle East, during his first visit to Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who welcomed Pope Francis as the first foreign dignitary to his controversial new presidential palace outside Ankara, meanwhile issued a strong warning about rising Islamophobia in the world.

The visit of the pope is seen as a crucial test of Francis' ability to build bridges between faiths amid the rampage by Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Iraq and Syria and concerns over the persecution of Christian minorities in the Middle East.

"Sadly, to date, we are still witnessing grave conflicts. In Syria and Iraq, particularly, terrorist violence shows no signs of abating," the pope said after talks with Erdogan on Friday.

"Inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue can make an important contribution... so that there will be an end to all forms of fundamentalism and terrorism," the leader of the world's Roman Catholics added.

Speaking in an overwhelmingly Muslim country which has a tiny but culturally significant Christian minority, the pope pointedly said all faiths should share the same rights.

"It is essential that all citizens - Muslim, Jewish and Christian - both in the provision and practice of the law, enjoy the same rights and respect the same duties."

Turkey's own Christian community is tiny - just 80,000 in a country of some 75 million Muslims - but also extremely mixed, consisting of Armenians, Greek Orthodox, Franco-Levantines, Syriac Orthodox and Chaldeans.

Erdogan has long been accused by opponents of seeking to erode Turkey's secular foundations with creeping Islamisation.

He chose the occasion to make a characteristically strong-worded warning against growing Islamophobia in the world, which he warned risked further dividing Muslims and Christians.

"Islamophobia is rising seriously and rapidly. We must work together against the threats weighing on our planet - intolerance, racism and discrimination," said Erdogan.

The 77-year-old Argentinian pope will move to Istanbul on Saturday and Sunday, visiting key sites of the city's Byzantine and Ottoman heritage as well as meeting the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.

 

Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you