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Erdogan to meet pope
 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on Monday to meet Benedict XVI during a potentially volatile visit overshadowed by the popes controversial comments on Islam. Erdogans spokesman said he would meet the head of the Roman Catholic Church at Ankara airport just after his arrival Tuesday for a four-day visit. A meeting is planned for the airport, the spokesman Mehmet Akif Beki told AFP, but he could not say how long the encounter would last.The fact that no talks had initially been planned between Erdogan and the pope was widely seen in the West as a snub of the Church leader by Erdogan, who heads the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party. Erdogan and other Turkish officials regularly denied this, saying aides were trying to find a way to arrange a meeting between the two. The premiers decision came a day after Benedict XVI offered an olive branch to his Turkish hosts, expressing his sincere friendship with the Turkish people to whom he sent cordial greetings. Posted by: Fred 2006-11-28 |
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