November 28, 2006

Papal Visit (5) - Why Pope is an unwelcome guest?

Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Turkey on his first trip to a mainly Muslim country since acceding to the papacy. NY Sun claims that Turks are in Suspense As Erdogan Sets Welcome of Pope.

DW-TV's religious correspondent John Berwick in Turkey's Unwelcome Guest argues that whether the pope likes it or not, his trip to Turkey, has turned into a confrontation between Islam and Christianity...
I believe that this would not be and still might not be the case: Pope's attempts for political interventions in the working of the EU and his explicit anti-TR standing is the key for his becoming an unwelcome guest in all over the political and intellectual circles in Turkey....There is no need to make this a civilizational clash...but his confrontational rhetorics fuels a possible crisis...Of course, this is open to exploitation by the Islamist and some nationalist circles within Turkey....

Posted by erkan at November 28, 2006 02:26 PM | TrackBack
Posted to Casual analyses | Pope/Pope's Speech