Living in the World
Turkey and the Pope

As the entire world knows, Turkey is attempting to enter the EU. We are also aware that Pope Benedict enraged the Muslim world with a speech at the University of Regenburg in Germany. At that event on September 12, a lecture to 1,500 university professors, Big Ben [sorry Steeler fans, the Pope is the “real” Big Ben, especially with Pittsburgh Ben’s less than steller performance this season] cited Manuel II Paleogus, Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425 who opined to a Persian Muslim that what Mohammed brought to Islam that was new were “things only evil and inhuman…”

Now, Benedict is going to Turkey. It will be interesting to see how the press reports this. For now, we see Muslim protestors in force. While the Pope apologized for unwittingly offending the sensitivities of faithful Muslims, that is not enough. The real purpose of the Pope’s visit is to meet with the leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
This is a meeting that has been in the works for over a year. Do you think the Turks wished they would have approved the meeting before Sept. 12? Maybe not.

If the focus of the visit is the Pope and his “insulting” Muslims, Turkey may not have to worry about examining their “tolerance” of Christianity. President Bush and Prime Minister Blair support the EU petition. They also continue to enunciate Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance hijacked by extremists. This is a test for Turkey, however. After Benedict’s Regensburg speech, Salih Kapusuz, deputy leader of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, declared that “Benedict is going down in history in the same category as Hitler and Mussolini.” Hardly the sentiment of a liberal democratic government that belongs in the EU.

Those who object to Turkey’s entrance in the EU point to its complete difference to all European cultures. The influence of EU open borders is seen everywhere in Europe. On a recent visit to Italy I witnessed first hand hundreds North African Muslims who pedaled their wares on the streets of Florence in front of the legitimate shopkeepers. The police would come to disperse them and as soon as the authorities departed, the peddlers were right back where they were. All over Europe this is occurring so that the phrase Eurabia has been coined. After Poland joined the EU, a half million Poles entered Britain and Ireland. What will happen when Turkey joins?

Remember that the subway bombers in London were homegrown Muslim terrorists. All over Europe, Muslims have not integrated into their “new home” cultures. The approach is not to seek to live by “common values” but as if they were already living in a Muslim dominated culture. But, because they are living in a liberal democratic society, they expect and demand others to respect their choice to live as Muslims in a foreign land. Unfortunately, government after government capitulates to their demands. This is a sure recipe for the death of all cultures, languages, histories and civilizations build on western European principles and virtues.

So, the Pope enters onto the Turkey scene when much is at stake. And, it is not about the tolerance of Big Ben. It is about Turkey and Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance. Will the Pope’s visit to the gates of the Phanar that were welded shut in 1821 when the Ottoman Turks hanged Patriarch Gregory V bring to view the position of Turkey toward Christianity? Or, will this visit be more of the same from the press covering the visit…the Pope unnecessarily inflaming the Muslim faithful? Another interesting chapter in the struggle of civilizations.