Pope on Turkey charm offensive
2006-11-30 16:53
Istanbul - A picture of Pope Benedict XVI waving a Turkish flag was on the front pages of nearly all Turkish newspapers on Thursday as the pontiff won more praise for his conciliatory gestures during his first trip to a Muslim country.
"The pope angered people for being an 'enemy of the Turks', but it turns out he's in love with Turkey," wrote tongue-in-cheek the liberal daily Radikal, as Benedict XVI's charm appeared to go beyond even the wildest expectations.
"The pope wins Turkey's heart," wrote Turkey's biggest-selling daily Posta, while another mass-selling daily, Hurriyet headlined: "I love the Turks."
That was a quote from Pope John XXIII, which Benedict XVI cited at the mass he celebrated on Wednesday at the House of the Virgin Mary, near the historic town of Ephesus in western Turkey.
John XXIII, who was papal nuncio in Istanbul from 1935 to 1944 before becoming pope, wrote: "I love the Turks; I appreciate the natural qualities of these people who have their own place reserved in the march of civilisation."
"The papal visit was planned as a dialogue between Christians," Radikal columnist Altan Oymen wrote, referring to the pope's meetings here with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I.
"But, unexpectedly, it turned into an attempt at Christian-Muslim dialogue," he said. "How all this will develop depends largely on the pope's stance after his talks in Istanbul."
Theologian Huseyin Hatemi wrote in the Islamist-leaning pro-government Yeni Safak that the pope's gestures in Turkey demonstrated the "virtue" of correcting one's mistakes.
"I love this pope and I say to him in all sincerity: Welcome Brother! Herzlich Willkommen, Bruder!" he wrote.
In a striking U-turn, the pope surprised his hosts on the first day of his visit Tuesday, when, in a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he said he supported Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union.
He also made conciliatory remarks about Islam, apparently seeking to atone for the uproar he caused in the Muslim world when, in a speech in September, he equated Islam with violence.
On Thursday, Benedict XVI is scheduled to tour two of Istanbul's most prominent religious monuments - Hagia Sophia, a former church and mosque which is now a museum, and the Blue Mosque.
- AFP