TURKEY: Pope Belies the Non-Believers

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Analysis by Hilmi Toros

ISTANBUL, Dec 4 2006 (IPS) - Despite controversy and fears for his safety, the first visit of Pope Benedict XVI to a Muslim nation ended with a series of conciliatory gestures toward Islam, and towards Turkey.

“A part of my heart remains in Istanbul,” the Roman Catholic Pontiff declared upon his departure from Istanbul to Rome last weekend.

The Turkish media, which had been sceptical in the run-up to the visit, hailed the Pope at the end of it. “The Pope conquered the heart of Turkey” even if some Turks still harbour suspicion, the largest selling daily Posta declared.

The Pope had come to a country where he was not fully welcome on account of his reported views against Turkey’s entry into the European Union, and his controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad that had drawn the ire of the Islamic word.

There were no motorcades, and his public appearances were confined to a minimum. The Pope was protected by a ring of steel formed by up to 10,000 security personnel. There were only some minor protests during the Papal visit.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had said he would be unable to meet the Pope because of his commitment to a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in Riga, Latvia, broke the ice by delaying his departure. He personally welcomed the Pontiff on arrival.

After an exchange at the airport in capital Ankara, Erdogan reported to the media that the Pope told him he backs Turkey’s entry into the EU. This was in sharp contrast to the Pope’s views expressed in August 2004 when, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he told the French dailies Le Figaro and Le Monde that Turkey’s place was among Muslim nations and that it had been in permanent contrast with Europe throughout history.

This time it was different. “I love the Turks,” Pope Benedict XVI declared at a stop on a hilltop some 500 km southeast of Istanbul where Virgin Mary is said to have lived after the death of Christ.

His conciliatory gestures towards Islam during a trip to a country of 73 million that is 98 percent Muslim, are seen as significant.

In Turkey and in much of the Islamic world, the Pope had been assailed for his remarks on Prophet Muhammad during a lecture at his old university at Regensburg in Germany last September when he quoted the 14th century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus as saying: “Show me what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

Amid condemnation in Islamic countries, including in Turkey, the Pope expressed his sorrow over reactions to remarks that were “considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims.” The expression of regret fell short of an outright apology demanded by many in the Islamic world, including the president of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Department, Ali Bardakoglu.

On his trip to Turkey, the Pope still abstained from any outright apology, but his actions may have spoken louder than words.

In a late change to his schedule, he visited the Blue Mosque, becoming the second pontiff to enter a mosque after his predecessor John Paul II went to one in Damascus in Syria in 2001.

Inside the ornate and imposing 17th century Blue Mosque in the heart of Istanbul, the Pope listened attentively as the mufti (religious head) of Istanbul Mustafa Cagrici explained the history of the mosque.

In what came as a surprise, the Pope and the mufti joined in a silent prayer with both facing Mecca – seen on television by millions across the globe. The Vatican said the Pope “stopped in meditation and directed his thoughts to God,” and called the act “a sign of respect for Muslims.”

The visit to the Blue Mosque came right after his tour of the sixth century Hagia Sophia, built as the main basilica of the Byzantine Orthodox Church. This was transformed to a mosque after the Ottoman Turks captured Istanbul, then Constantinople, in 1453..

At Hagia Sophia, the Pope abstained from any prayer, unlike Pope Paul VI, who knelt for prayer there during his visit in 1967, a move then criticised in Turkey since prayers are forbidden there.

The fact that Pope Benedict XVI did not pray in a former church and later did so at a mosque across the square had more significance than any apology to the world of Islam, according to Turkish theologian Huseyin Hatemi, writing in the daily Yeni Safak.

But the symbolism did not convince everyone. “The gestures were fine, but I still think he is still basically anti-Turkish and anti-Islam,” said Gulsun Zeytinoglu, human resources expert and former board member of the Turkish Businesswomen’s Association.

Apart from building bridges with Islam, the Pope also took another step towards Christian unity. He exchanged a kiss of peace with Patriarch Bartholomew, considered the spiritual head of the 250 million Orthodox Church.

In what came to be known as the great schism dating back to 1054, Christendom was split between the Roman Catholic Church in Rome and the Eastern Orthodox Church in then Constantinople. Some of the differences were over Papal authority and supremacy.

Attempts at reconciliation, on and off through centuries, picked up speed in the past 50 years. While unity is not seen in the offing immediately, the two leaders called the division among Christian “a scandal of the world.”