Pope Benedict XVI toured Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul on the final leg of his first papal visit to a Muslim-majority country, Türkiye.
The trip has been shadowed by controversy stemming from the pope's earlier citation of a medieval Byzantine emperor who described the Prophet Mohammed's teachings in harsh terms. The remarks provoked widespread anger across the Muslim world.
Benedict appeared to seek reconciliation during a joint appearance with Türkiye's top Islamic cleric, saying: 'Peace is the basis of all religions.'
His stop at Haghia Sophia carried its own sensitivities. The structure was originally an Eastern Orthodox church, became a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453, and was converted into a museum in 1934, when religious observances inside were banned. Any visible act of worship by the pope there risked fresh offense among Turkish nationalists, a group of whom had recently occupied the building to perform Islamic prayers before police detained them.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.