Pope Francis will arrive in Turkey shortly for what is billed as a historic trip to help interfaith dialogue in the country.He then plans to visit Istanbul for a meeting with the head of the Orthodox Christian church.
It will be only the fourth time in history that a pope has visited Muslim-majority Turkey.
During his trip Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Istanbul's Sultan Ahmed mosque, the 17th Century place of worship popularly known as the Blue Mosque.
He is also due to sign a joint declaration with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians, on trying to bridge the divides between Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity.
The Pope (left) is due to meet Patriarch Bartholomew I (right) during his visit
The visit comes at a time of heightened political sensitivity in the region.Turkey is now home to at least 1.6 million refugees from war-torn Syria, most of them living close to the border separating the two countries.
According to the BBC's Turkey correspondent Mark Lowen, there is a humanitarian angle to Pope Francis's trip.
Many expect him to touch on the plight of the region's refugees, he said.In an interview on the eve of his visit, the Pope made his feelings on the Syrian conflict known.
He told an Israeli newspaper that the persecution of Christians in the region is "the worst" it has been since Christianity's earliest days.
Although most of Turkey's 80 million citizens are Muslims, there are around 120,000 Christians in the country - once the centre of the Orthodox Christian world.
