|
Turkey denies any snub to pope
 The fact that Turkish Premier Tayyip Erdogan may be unable to meet with Pope Benedict XVI when the pontiff visits Turkey should in no way be seen as a snub, a spokesman for the premier told ANSA on Thursday . There have been reports in the Italian and Turkish press that Ergodan would refuse to meet with the pope because of Benedict's recent alleged criticism of Islam . Ahmet Arslan said the premier had previous commitments which conflicted with a possible meeting with the pope, who will be in Turkey from November 28 to December 1 .The Turkish premier will be in Riga, Latvia, for a NATO summit until the night of November 29 and the next day he must chair a meeting in Ankara of the Supreme Defence Council, which had been scheduled since the start of the year and would last all day, he added. "Any intention of a diplomatic snub of the pope for his statements on Islam is totally out of the question," Arslan said . Meanwhile, ANSA has been told by another spokesman, who preferred to remain anonymous, that final details still need to be worked out on the pope's schedule and a meeting with Erdogan may still be possible. A statement from the Vatican press office on Thursday said the Holy See had been aware of the Turkish premier's scheduling problems when arranging the pope's visit . According to the Vatican, Erdogan had indicated he would try to find time to meet with the pope, but if this was not possible a deputy premier would stand in for him. Turkey, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, was one of the countries which reacted strongly to Benedict's observations on Islam during a lecture at a German university in September . The Turkish Premier and leading Islamic clerics sharply criticised the German pontiff and demanded an apology for citing a medieval emperor who criticised Islam . Benedict later said on at least four occasions that he deeply regretted the angry reactions his words had caused, saying the quotation did not reflect his own opinion . The pope was invited to Turkey by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and will visit the capital Ankara, Ephesus and Istanbul. Posted by: Fred 2006-11-02 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=170642 |