Vatican confirms Pope will visit Turkey mosque

By Staff
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VATICAN CITY, Nov 26 (Reuters) Pope Benedict will visit Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque on his trip to Turkey next week, the Vatican said today.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Reuters that the visit to the mosque, which had been in the planning stages, has now been confirmed.

The visit, seen as another attempt at reconciliation by Benedict after he infuriated much of the Muslim world with comments taken as indicating he believed Islam was violent and irrational, will be his first to a mosque as Pope.

His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, made the first visit by a pontiff to a mosque during a trip to Damascus in 2001.

The Sultanahmet, or Blue Mosque, is the most famed in Turkey and a popular tourist attraction. It stands in a square of the same name in the historical district of Istanbul, opposite the Aya Sofya museum.

It was built early in the 17th century on the order of Sultan Ahmed I and is also near the Ottoman Topkapi Palace.

Reuters DKA DB1822

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