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Muslim-majority Turkey, which is hosting Pope Leo XIV on his first overseas trip as pontiff, is not “a hostile environment” for Christians, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople told AFP in an interview.”It is simplistic to see adversaries everywhere and to imagine the pope’s visit as taking sides in a hostile environment,” said Patriarch Bartholomew I, leader of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians.On Friday, Bartholomew joins Leo for celebrations in Iznik, around two hours from Istanbul, to mark 1,700 years since the First Council of Nicaea, a key early Church gathering that resulted in a statement of faith still central to Christianity.After arriving in Ankara on Thursday and meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom critics have accused of wanting to Islamise society, the pope described Turkey as a “crossroads of sensibilities” that was richer for its “internal diversity”.Turkey has a population of 86 million but only about 100,000 Christians.Numbers were hit by the Armenian genocide — a term denied by Ankara — during the Ottoman Empire, and the population exchanges and pogroms that saw many Greek Orthodox leave in the early 20th century.- ‘Blessing in disguise’ -But Bartholomew said living in a Muslim country had its advantages.”Living in a predominantly Muslim country is a blessing in disguise because it sustains and strengthens the essential feature of the Ecumenical Patriarchate… open and honest dialogue with all people in all places, irrespective of race and religion,” he said.The timing of Leo’s visit, coming at a moment of conflict, was significant, he said.”This year, when the world is troubled and divided by conflict and antagonism, our meeting with Pope Leo XIV is especially significant,” he said.”It reminds our faithful that we are more powerful and more credible when we are united in our witness and response to the challenges of the contemporary world.”The Eastern Orthodox Church sustained a major blow in 2018 when the Moscow Patriarchate broke ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate after it recognised the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s independence from Russia.But Bartholomew insisted “the door of dialogue is always open”.The patriarch, who in March 2022 said he had become “a target of Moscow”, refuses to budge in his stance against the Ukraine war, urging the Moscow Patriarchate to break away from the Kremlin.”The spiritual leaders in Russia cannot follow blindly the inhumane interests and barbarous policies of its political leaders. Nor can they indiscriminately condone and even bless the bloodshed in Ukraine,” he said.

The Israeli army and police said Thursday they were investigating the circumstances in which two Palestinians were shot dead in the occupied West Bank while seemingly surrendering to Israeli forces.The incident in Jenin in the northern West Bank, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups, was filmed from several angles, including by AFP.The Palestinian Authority named the two men killed as 37-year-old Yussef Ali Asa’sa and 26-year-old Al-Muntasir Billah Mahmud Abdullah.It said they were killed in a “brutal” summary execution and condemned the incident as a “war crime”.Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir swiftly backed the forces who opened fire, saying: “Terrorists must die!”- Blood-soaked floor -Videos circulating on social media and on television channels showed two men emerging from a building with their arms raised, surrounded by Israeli forces.They were then seen lying on the ground before being directed back inside the building. Gunshots rang out and the two men were seen lying on the ground.AFP footage showed the two men exiting the building then entering it again before the shorts were fired. A building between the camera and the scene partially obscured the image.Troops were later seen removing a body.AFP pictures from the scene showed the blood-soaked floor of a building. People helped to clear up the damaged site afterwards, moving sheets of corrugated metal.In a joint statement, the Israeli military and the police — which oversees the border guard unit — said they attempted to apprehend “wanted individuals who had carried out terror activities, including hurling explosives and firing at security forces”.They said they “enclosed the structure in which the suspects were located, and initiated a surrender procedure that lasted several hours. Following the use of engineering tools on the structure, the two suspects exited.”Following their exit, fire was directed toward the suspects.”The incident is under review by the commanders on the ground, and will be transferred to the relevant professional bodies.”- ‘Brutal field execution’ -Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry said the two men were “shot dead by Israeli forces in the Jabal Abu Dhahir area in the city of Jenin”, adding that their bodies were being held by Israeli forces.The foreign ministry in Ramallah said it “strongly condemns the brutal field execution carried out by the Israeli occupation army against two Palestinian youths”, calling it a “deliberate Israeli war crime”.It urged the international community to take “immediate action to stop the Israeli killing machine, deter these crimes, and impose urgent international protection mechanisms for the Palestinian people”.The Palestinian militant group Hamas called it a “cold-blooded execution of two unarmed Palestinian youths”.Meanwhile, Ben Gvir offered his total backing to the Israeli forces involved.”I fully support the border guard members and Israeli army soldiers who shot at wanted terrorists who emerged from a building in Jenin,” he said on X.”The forces acted exactly as expected of them — terrorists must die!”- ‘Dehumanisation’ -Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said the two men were killed “while posing no threat”.”The execution documented today is the result of an accelerated process of dehumanisation of Palestinians and the complete abandonment of their lives by the Israeli regime,” said B’Tselem’s executive director Yuli Novak.Violence in the West Bank has soared since Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.It has not ceased despite the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas coming into effect last month.Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, many of them militants, but also scores of civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.At least 44 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.