"No red carpet for the Pope" said one Turkish headline today — and indeed there were no banners, portraits or flag waving crowds of the kind you normally see on papal trips abroad as Pope Benedict XVI arrived for the most hazardous and delicate trip of his pontificate so far. But equally, despite noisy protests against the Popes visit over the past few days and threats of violence, the streets of Ankara were also devoid of demonstrators, partly because of a ferocious security clampdown by Turkish police. The Pope stepped from his Alitalia plane to meet Tayyip Erdogan, the pro-Islamic Prime Minister, wearing a heavy white topcoat which may or may not conceal a bullet proof vest. Vatican officials admit the question of whether he should wear one was raised, but that the pontiff was reluctant to do so. The Pope appeared to nod understandingly when Mr Erdogan, who only agreed to meet the pontiff at the last moment, explained that he had leave immediately for the NATO summit in Riga.
The two men then spoke for twenty minutes in the VIP lounge of Ankara airport and appeared keen to dispel tensions that have surrounded the Pope in the Islamic world since he appeared to conflate Islam and violence in a speech at the University of Regensburg in September.
The Pope said that he wanted to visit Turkey to "reiterate the solidarity between the cultures" adding: "It is a democratic, Islamic country and a bridge... I wanted to come to Turkey since becoming Pope because I love this culture." Mr Erdogan, a moderate leader who told the Turkish parliament that he expected the rest of the country to welcome the Pope "with our traditional hospitality", affirmed the pontiff as a figure of tolerance. "I explained to him that Islam is a religion of love and tolerance, and the Pope agrees with me," he said. "He too gave the message that Islam is a religion of love and peace."
But the first misunderstanding was not far away. After their meeting, Mr Erdogan told journalists that the Pope, who as a cardinal said that admitting predominantly Muslim Turkey to the EU would be "a grave error against the tide of history", had now told him he hoped Turkey would join. "He told me, Â’We want Turkey to be part of the EU,'" said Mr Erdogan. "It is an honourable commendation."
Vatican officials offered a slightly different version, saying the Pope had told the Turkish leader that the Vatican "views with favour the steps Turkey is taking toward fulfillment of the requirements of the EU body", and had stressed that the Vatican was not a political entity.