TURKEY: A man who fired shots outside the Italian consulate in Istanbul last week threatens the Pope when he arrives for his court appearance

A man who fired shots outside the Italian consulate in Istanbul last week threatened the Pope when he arrived for his court appearance on Monday (November 6). As he arrived at the Istanbul court 26-year-old Ibrahim Ak shouted "if he dares to do (come here) so then please the Muslim would do something opposed to this." Ak fired a weapon in front of the Italian consulate in Istanbul last Thursday (November 2) to protest against Pope Benedict's visit to the predominantly Muslim country later this month, raising concern over the Pontiff's safety there. Benedict's first visit to Turkey on Nov. 28-Dec. 1 has been overshadowed by Muslim anger since a lecture he gave in September at a German university in which he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor in a passage seen as critical of the Prophet Mohammad. The visit has stirred controversy in a country which came out with the strongest criticism of the Pope's speech and nationalists and Islamic activists have pushed for the trip to be cancelled. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a pious Muslim, has decided not to meet the Pope because of a busy schedule, a move Italian commentators said amounted to a diplomatic snub. Vatican observers said they could not recall an occasion when a head of government did not meet a visiting pope. Turkish nationalists and Islamist activists -- both suspecting the Pope's visit was aimed at boosting non-Muslim faiths -- have called for his trip to be cancelled. Even before the Pope's latest remarks on Islam, Turks were distrustful of Benedict, who before becoming Pope said Turkey as a non-Christian country would not fit into the European Union. The nationalist mood has strengthened following a barrage of criticism from EU leaders of Turkey's failure to recognise Cyprus, improve human rights and bring the revered military firmly under civilian control. Politicians may fear looking conciliatory towards the Pope or even the EU -- which will issue a critical progress report on Turkey's reform progress on Nov. 8 -- could hurt them at the ballot box next year. The Pope's visit will also put a spotlight on religious freedom in Turkey. His main purpose in visiting the country which spans Europe and Asia, is to meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Istanbul-based spiritual head of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians. The Pope has even been warned to stay away by the man who attempted to kill his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in 1981. In comments released in September Mehmet Ali Agca said the Pope's life was in danger. Agca is now serving a jail sentence in Istanbul for murder and robbery. Pope John Paul publicly forgave Agca four days after the shooting in St Peter's Square and again when he visited him in his cell in 1983. Agca was pardoned at the Pope's request in 2000 after 19 years in an Italian jail. Violence against Roman Catholic clergy in Turkey has risen in the past year. In the most serious incident, a youth shot dead an Italian priest while he prayed in his church in the Black Sea port of Trabzon. A French priest survived a knife attack in Samsun, also on the Black Sea and a Slovenian Franciscan friar received death threats.

ITN Source | November 7, 2006

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