Pope to talk ISIS on historic 3-day tour of Turkey

Pope Francis begins an historic three-day tour of Turkey Friday morning, only the fourth trip by a pope to mostly Muslim nation. He's already arrived in the Turkish capital and security is tight as Francis travels throughout the country.

The focus of the trip will be on shoring up the region's beleaguered Christian minorities and countering the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) threat, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.

Speaking to reporters on his plane, Pope Francis praised Turkey's help for refugees from the conflict zone. The arrival in the Turkish capital was low-key -- just an honor guard, handshakes from minor officials and the motorcade was off.

Francis won't be using his preferred open Pope mobile on this trip because Turkey is 98 percent Muslim and crowds are not expected. Given the proximity of the self-declared Islamic State in neighboring Syria and Iraq, that's a relief to his security detail.

The first official event was the mandatory stop at the Mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey where the Pope laid a wreath -- but it's the sub-text that matters.

Turkey is officially a secular state, but the government is taking an increasingly Islamist stance.

Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew whom the Pope will meet later on the trip has said his small Christian flock feels "crucified" by the Turkish government.

The first potential controversy is the official welcome at the 1,000 room White Palace. Ordered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it cost an estimated half a billion dollars, opulence that is in direct contrast to the austerity and humility that Pope Francis embraces.

Turkish architects asked him to boycott what one blogger called "a symbol of greed cronyism and hunger for absolute power."

Saturday Francis heads to Istanbul for two days where he will visit a mosque, say Mass and deliver two speeches.

Not one to shy from the issues, Francis is expected to stress the need for dialogue to accompany military responses to terrorism and to speak out against fundamentalism and persecution of religious minorities.