New York TimesANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 28 — Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Turkey on Tuesday armed with a surprise gesture of good will aimed at blunting Muslim anger toward him: he backed Turkey’s long-stalled desire to join the European Union, reversing a statement he made two years ago.
The pope visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded the secular republic that Turkey is steadily shifting away from.
Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters after a brief meeting with Benedict at the airport here that he had asked the pope to support Turkey in its attempt to become a member of the European Union.
“He said, ‘You know we don’t have a political role, but we wish for Turkey’s entry into the E.U.,’ ” Mr. Erdogan said the pope told him. “His wish is a positive recommendation for us.”
Although the Vatican does not play a formal role in the European Union, or delve publicly into domestic matters of other states, the pope’s gesture was nonetheless a piece of political stagecraft at a delicate time both in relations between Muslims and the West and in Benedict’s own damaged reputation among Muslims.
Long before he angered the Muslim world two months ago with a speech criticized as equating Islam with violence, Benedict was disliked here because of comments he made, as a cardinal in 2004, opposing Turkish membership in Europe. As the successor to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey had always stood, he said at the time, “in permanent contrast to Europe.”
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1 comment:
Any ideas as to what compelled the Pope to change his views so drastically in a matter of two years? Turkey still stands in drastic contrast to Europe...
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