TURKEY: Final preparations are underway for controversial visit by Pope Benedict to Turkey

Final preparations are underway for the controversial visit to Turkey by the Pope. Some eight thousand police will be responsible for security when Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Ankara on Tuesday (November 28). The lead-up to the Pope's first visit to a Muslim country has been peppered with criticism and outrage. Turkish government leaders have been accused of being reluctant to meet him, street protests have erupted against the visit, and a gun was fired outside the Italian consulate in Istanbul. The visit by the leader of 1.1 billion Roman Catholics was originally intended to be a pre-eminently Christian event centred around a meeting with the Istanbul-based head of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians. But it has taken on much vaster political ramifications in Western-Islamic relations, East-West ties, Catholic-Muslim relations and Turkey's own aspirations to be part of Europe. The 79-year-old Pope will have to attempt to repair damage on several fronts as he visits the predominantly Muslim country that is officially secular. The attitude to the Pope in Turkey ranges from total secular indifference to passionate religious or political anger. Benedict infuriated Muslims worldwide in September with a lecture that appeared to portray Islam as an irrational religions tainted by violence. He later expressed regret over the pain his remarks caused but stopped short of a full apology.

ITN Source | November 28, 2006

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