Pope Francis visits Turkey, meets with Erdogan

ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Pope Francis began his three-day trip to Turkey Friday with a condemnation of violence in Syria and Iraq and a visit to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's controversial new palace in Ankara.

After becoming the first foreign dignitary to visit Erdogan's new 1,000-room palace, the Pope and Erdogan spoke privately, and later addressed a press conference, where the Pope said all faiths have a "moral obligation" to help the 1.6 million Syrian refugees now in Turkey.

"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. Grave persecutions have taken place in the past and still continue today to the detriment of minorities, especially, though not only, Christians and Yazidis. Hundreds of thousands of persons have been forced to abandon their homes and countries in order to survive and remain faithful to their religious beliefs. What is required is a concerted commitment on the part of all ... (to) enable resources to be directed, not to weaponry, but to the other noble battles worthy of man: the fight against hunger and sickness."

Erdogan spoke out against international prejudice against Muslims, saying, "Islamophobia is rising seriously and rapidly. We must work together against the threats weighing on our planet, intolerance, racism and discrimination."

The visit is the first by a Pope to Turkey since 2006, and comes as the country's Christian population has fallen to about 120,000. The European Union has demanded that Turkey, the bloc's only Muslim country, support minority religious rights more forcefully.

Pope Francis will travel to Istanbul Friday, to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, leader of global Orthodox Christianity, in an effort to improve ties between Christianity's eastern and western elements.