"In İstanbul, his last stop, workers are polishing up the Hagia Sophia basilica-cum-mosque-cum-museum for the expected visit," The New York Times said Saturday in a report posted from Washington.
The US president is also expected to participate in the second day of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Forum scheduled for April 6 and 7 in İstanbul, after his talks in Ankara. Obama is to meet with President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on April 6, and Obama and Erdoğan are expected to fly to İstanbul together to attend the meeting of the UNAOC initiative on April 7.
Also in İstanbul, Obama will hold a round-table discussion with students in what advisers have called an attempt to reach out to young people in Europe and southwest Asia.
Obama plans to use his upcoming trip to Europe as an opportunity to "listen as well as lead," according to key White House aides.
His European tour starts with a summit of the G20 group of industrialized and emerging economies in London before going on to a NATO meeting in France and an EU gathering in the Czech Republic. Obama will round out the series of events with his visit to Turkey.
White House Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough told reporters on Saturday that the trip would be a continuation of an "aggressive and forward-leaning" focus on national security in the Obama administration's first few months in office.
"The president obviously wants to take a particular interest in this trip in re-energizing specific alliances, as well," McDonough said. "He also wanted to make clear on this first trip that Turkey is a vital ally, a vital member of NATO and a vital bilateral partner to the United States in a range of issues."
"We will also have an opportunity throughout this trip … to continue leading and strengthening our alliances; re-energizing our alliances to confront not just the economic and financial challenge we face, but also the shared challenges we face," McDonough said.
McDonough underlined that in discussions with foreign leaders on security concerns, Obama would not focus solely on the "inherited" challenges of winding down the war in Iraq and securing more assistance for a renewed focus on fighting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Obama will seek, McDonough said, "to re-energize our alliances to confront the looming threats of the 21st century, principally [nuclear] proliferation … [and] new threats like cyber [security] and climate and energy security."
He added, "Turkey serves as a real bridge between Asia and Europe."
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, speaking during a press briefing on Friday, made clear that the venue of a speech Obama has pledged to deliver in a Muslim country within his first 100 days in office will not be Turkey.
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