A Year in the Near East

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Turkey this week, and if you’ve been watching the news (and in the Turkish news), the protests against his visit are getting bigger. Benedict sparked outrage in the Muslim world in September when he quoted a Byzantine emperor’s criticism of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. Of course, the quote was perceived out of context – no one cared that what he intended was to draw out the essential relationship between faith and reason. The reaction of many Muslims to his speech, sometimes violent, always angry, has done much to validate what he said. Like the reaction to the Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb for a turban, these reactions confirm the very thing Muslims have been trying to refute.

This will be an interesting week in Turkey, as there will be more security for the pope than for US President Bush’s 2004 visit. As for myself, however, I have no plans to visit İstanbul. I will wait for the protests here, in Ankara, as he will come here before his 4-day visit to Turkey is over. I can’t wait.