Pope Benedict, who recently sparked polemics with his remarks on Islam, will go ahead with a planned visit to Turkey at the end of November, the Vatican confirmed on Monday.
Turkey, whose 62 million inhabitants are overwhelmingly Muslim, was one of the countries which reacted strongly to Benedict's observations on Islam during a lecture at a German university on September 12.
The Turkish Premier and leading Islamic clerics in the country sharply criticised the German pontiff for citing a medieval emperor who criticised Islam and demanded an
apology.
Amid the furore there was speculation that the Vatican might call off the Turkey trip because of security concerns.
Benedict has said on at least four occasions that he deeply regretted the angry reactions his words had caused, saying the quotation did not reflect his own opinion.
Muslim anger appears to have subsided. Over the weekend 38 religious leaders from various Islamic countries wrote the pope a letter, saying they accepted his explanation and
welcomed his call for dialogue.
The Vatican statement released on Monday made no reference to the recent polemics as it officially confirmed the four-day visit to Turkey.
"In response to the invitation of Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Benedict XVI will make an apostolic journey to Turkey, going to Ankara, Ephesus and Istanbul," it said.
The pope is scheduled to arrive in the capital Ankara on November 28, going on Ephesus on the following day and proceeding to Istanbul the day after, staying there until his departure on December 1.
Officials said full details of the itinerary of the pope's trip would be released in coming days.
Ephesus, an ancient city in Turkey's west, hosts a shrine which is said to mark the home of the mother of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Benedict is scheduled to visit it.
Although the pope's trip is now expected to take on the dimension of a fence-mending initiative with Islam, it was originally intended more as a gesture towards the Orthodox Church.
Pope John Paul II made considerably headway in reducing tension between Catholicism and the Orthodox world. Benedict has said he want to continue in that furrow.
Istanbul, where the pontiff will be on November 30, is the home of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The patriarch, Bartholomew I, is an important reference point for the world's 300,000 Orthodox Christians.
November 30 is the feast day of St Andrew, who founded the Christian Church in Turkey before Christianity split into two, with Rome leading the west and Constantinople in the east.
The pope is expected to mark the feast day with a ceremony, after which there will be the official signing of a joint declaration by the Orthodox and Catholic Churches.
There are about 35,000 Catholics living in Turkey.
