Pope's visit has Muslims skeptical

One official predicted that there will be protests.
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
ANKARA, Turkey -- Beside a narrow stone road, with the brilliant reds and blues of prayer rugs for sale acting like a canopy, Ugur Basci paused between sips of tea to say that East and West, Islam and Christianity can coexist peacefully, beautifully.
But, he said, such healing is unlikely to begin when Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Muslim Turkey on Tuesday for a four-day visit.
"We Muslims believe in reconciliation; that is clear," said the 69-year-old merchant and Haji, meaning one who's made a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. "But this pope, it is clear to us that he does not. He does not respect Islam. He does not respect Turkey."
The pope's visit isn't shaping up so much as a difficult four days as a mission behind enemy lines. A protest group last week took control of the famous Hagia Sophia, an Eastern Orthodox church in Istanbul that was converted into a mosque in 1453 and then into a museum in 1935, to protest the visit, but officials here dismiss Western fears for the pope's safety.
"Will there be protests? Yes, of course," said Meliha Benli Altunisik, the chair of international relations at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. "But I cannot take seriously the notion that he is in physical danger. He will rather be ignored."
If there are no protests, few people are likely to turn out to see Benedict. Turkey has almost 70 million residents but only about 93,000 Christians, according to State Department estimates.
Popes they care about
"The Turks only really care about two popes: John XXIII, who established diplomatic relations with Turkey. He's the pope who liked Turkey," said the Rev. Jean-Marc Balhan, who preaches Sundays in a church the size of a racquetball court in an old French diplomatic building. "And then there's Benedict XVI. He's the pope who doesn't like Turkey."
The pope began planning this trip before Sept. 12, when in a speech he quoted from a 1391 dialogue on Christianity and Islam between the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian. He quoted the emperor as saying: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
The ancient quotation quickly joined the list of Muslim grievances against the West, along with the U.S.-led attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan, the Israeli attack on Lebanon, the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad and the French ban on the hijab -- the head scarf that many Muslim women wear -- in state schools.
Muslim reaction was angry and, at times, violent. Salih Kapusuz, the deputy leader of Turkey's ruling AK political party, said: "The owner of those unfortunate and arrogant comments, Benedict XVI, has gone down in history, but in the same category as Hitler and Mussolini."
Last week, a raft of Turkish political leaders, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the foreign minister, announced that they have engagements that will make it impossible for them to meet the pope. On Friday, however, in an interview with Turkey's private TGRT television, Erdogan said there might be time for a meeting at the airport if their arrival and departure times coincide. Erdogan will be attending a NATO summit in Latvia during the pope's visit.