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Pope to be first foreign guest at Turkey's new presidential palace
15:53 ¢ 09.11.14
Pope Francis is set to be the first house guest at Turkey's new
presidential palace during a visit to Turkey at the end of the month,
the Hurriyet Daily News reports.
During his three-day visit, the spiritual leader of the world's one
billion Catholics will meet President Recep ErdoÄ?an and Turkey's top
Muslim cleric, Mehmet Görmez. ErdoÄ?an is scheduled to welcome Pope
Francis as Vatican's Head of State with an "A-class" ceremony that
will be organized at the gargantuan presidential palace in Ankara,
which recently sparked a public debate due to its cost.
Known officially as the Presidential Palace but dubbed universally as
the Ak Saray (White Palace), the complex takes up an area of 200,000
square metres (2.1 million square feet), has 1,000 rooms and draws its
architectural inspiration from Turkey's Ottoman and Seljuk heritage.
Controversy over the palace soared when Finance Minister Mehmet Å?imÅ?ek
told a parliamentary budget committee last week that the total cost so
far was 1.37 billion Turkish lira ($615 million), around double the
original price tag.
Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Mustafa Kemal's Atatürk's mausoleum
in Ankara, before going to Istanbul on the second day of his program
in Turkey. In Istanbul, visits to Hagia Sophia, which was the largest
Orthodox cathedral once, as well as to the Blue Mosque, Saint Esprit
Catholic Church and the Patriarchate are in the schedule.
Armenian News - Tert.am
From: A. Papazian
15:53 ¢ 09.11.14
Pope Francis is set to be the first house guest at Turkey's new
presidential palace during a visit to Turkey at the end of the month,
the Hurriyet Daily News reports.
During his three-day visit, the spiritual leader of the world's one
billion Catholics will meet President Recep ErdoÄ?an and Turkey's top
Muslim cleric, Mehmet Görmez. ErdoÄ?an is scheduled to welcome Pope
Francis as Vatican's Head of State with an "A-class" ceremony that
will be organized at the gargantuan presidential palace in Ankara,
which recently sparked a public debate due to its cost.
Known officially as the Presidential Palace but dubbed universally as
the Ak Saray (White Palace), the complex takes up an area of 200,000
square metres (2.1 million square feet), has 1,000 rooms and draws its
architectural inspiration from Turkey's Ottoman and Seljuk heritage.
Controversy over the palace soared when Finance Minister Mehmet Å?imÅ?ek
told a parliamentary budget committee last week that the total cost so
far was 1.37 billion Turkish lira ($615 million), around double the
original price tag.
Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Mustafa Kemal's Atatürk's mausoleum
in Ankara, before going to Istanbul on the second day of his program
in Turkey. In Istanbul, visits to Hagia Sophia, which was the largest
Orthodox cathedral once, as well as to the Blue Mosque, Saint Esprit
Catholic Church and the Patriarchate are in the schedule.
Armenian News - Tert.am
From: A. Papazian