Pope Leo arrived in Turkey on his first trip outside Italy as leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday and was expected to make appeals for peace in the Middle East and urge unity among long-divided Christian churches.

The first U.S. pope chose mainly Muslim Turkey as his first overseas destination to mark the 1,700th anniversary of a landmark early church council there that produced the Nicene Creed, still used by most of the world's Christians today.

Leo landed in the capital of Ankara on Thursday for what is a crowded three-day itinerary in Turkey, before heading on to Lebanon. It will be closely watched as he makes his first speeches overseas and visits sensitive cultural sites.

In a country where less than one per cent of the population is Christian, the pope’s visit is seen as an

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