The star Online
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Efes - Turkey has praised the conciliatory tone of Pope Benedict during his visit to the predominantly Muslim country and his apparent new support for Ankara's bid to join the European Union.
Celebrating mass at a shrine in south-western Turkey where it is said the Virgin Mary lived out her last days, the pope yesterday stressed that a common devotion to the mother of Jesus Christ was another link binding Christians and Muslims.
As Benedict continued his four-day visit, Turkey focused on his gestures on arrival on Tuesday, his apparent support for Ankara's bid to join the EU, and his praise for Islam following a speech in September that many Muslims found insulting.
"This is a big warning for conservative politicians who think the EU is a Christian club," wrote a columnist in the Milliyet newspaper.
At the Nato summit in Riga, Latvia, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan had told him he was satisfied with the start of the pope's trip.
Benedict said in his sermon: "From here in Ephesus, a city blessed by the presence of Mary Most Holy - who we know is loved and venerated also by Muslims - let us lift up to the Lord a special prayer for peace between peoples."
The Qur'an describes Mary as the virgin mother of Jesus, whom Muslims consider the greatest prophet after Mohammed, and some Muslims - especially women - visit shrines to her.
The rough stone house where she is said to have died stands amid olive and pine trees outside the ancient Greek city of Ephesus.
There are about 100 000 Christians in Turkey.
The pope's September speech seemed to stress differences between Christianity and Islam and to link Islam and violence - a link he denied making after Muslims protested.
Turks had hoped the pontiff's visit would convince sceptical Europeans that the country was worthy of EU membership.
Turkey's EU ambitions suffered a blow yesterday when the European Commission decided to recommend the suspension of part of Turkey's EU membership talks over Ankara's failure to open its ports to traffic coming from EU member Cyprus. - Reuters