THE POPE IN TURKEY
By Mukremin Albayrak, Sezai Kalayci, Istanbul

Zaman Online, Turkey
Dec 2 2006

Pope Benedict XVI’s Turkey visit, which was closely followed by the
world press with great interest and curiosity, turned out to be far
more positive and beneficial than expected.

The pope gave a much anticipated message at the Blue Mosque. The pope
faced toward the holiest sanctuary of Islam, the Kaaba, in Mecca with
Istanbul Mufti Prof. Dr. Mustafa Cagrici and stood in meditation and
prayed with his hands folded in the proper Muslim prayer position.

With this gesture of goodwill, the pontiff had provided great
support to inter-religious dialogue and the project of alliance of
civilizations. Also giving warm messages for Turkey’s EU membership,
the pope showed his close relationship to Patriarch Bartholomew and
the two churches, by holding his hand.

After the pope’s speech at Regensburg University in Germany, which had
prompted world-wide reactions in the Islamic world, the visit to Turkey
was an issue of global interest. About 2,000 journalists from Turkey
and abroad had made reservations to follow his visit. There were also
various conspiracy theories about his meeting with Patriarch of the
Fener Greek Patriarchate Bartholomew. As expected, the pope mentioned
the Fener Greek patriarch as being "ecumenical," but he balanced his
speech with his sincere prayers and wishes for unity in the Middle
East. During the visit to Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II, Benedict XVI
never mentioned the word "genocide." The pope not only made visits
to the spiritual leaders of the biggest congregations in Istanbul,
but also to the heads of the Syrian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic churches
and the chief rabbi of Turkey, thus giving important messages about
interreligious dialogue.

The most important parts of the visit were the Hagia Sophia and the
Blue Mosque. Frustrating theories that he was going to pray in Hagia
Sophia, the pope toured the huge museum like an ordinary tourist while
he chose to pray in the Blue Mosque. Both native and foreign news
agencies broadcasted this historical moment to the world describing it
as the most striking part of the visit. The pope gave very positive
messages about tolerance and dialogue. He demonstrated his love and
respect for the Turkish nation by first saying "We’d like to see Turkey
in the European Union" and secondly by waving the Turkish Flag given
to him in Ephesus. These gestures of goodwill of the pope made a great
contribution to the project of alliance of civilizations. Pope Benedict
XVI left Turkey saying, "part of my heart will remain in Istanbul."