Pope Leo XIV greeted journalists aboard the Papal plane headed for Turkey with a cheerful “Happy Thanksgiving,” before telling the group that his first trip abroad is intended to send a message of peace throughout the world.

Pope Leo will spend three days in Turkey before traveling to Lebanon on Sunday.

There were 81 journalists traveling with him on the Papal plane.

A photographer quickly donned her New York Knicks cap before presenting the Pope with a pair of Chicago White Sox slippers and socks.

Americans correspondents gave the Pope Thanksgiving pumpkin and pecan pies.

On Thursday, the Pontiff was meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara before heading to Istanbul.

A key part of his visit to Turkey is to make the 1700 anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council to bring unity among Christians.

Leo is the fifth Pope to visit Turkey after Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XIV and Pope Francis.

The Pope’s trip comes at a particularly fraught period in the Middle East with a delicate ceasefire in Gaza and recent Israeli strikes in both Beirut and southern Lebanon.

AP Video shot by Paolo Santalucia

Production by: Trisha Thomas