Turkey aiming for calm during papal visit - by Doug Saunders
ANKARA -- Shortly after he shakes hands with the Turkish Prime Minister this afternoon, Pope Benedict XVI will be driven through crowds of protesters and curiosity-seekers to a looming sandstone structure atop a forested urban hilltop, where he will become the first Roman Catholic pontiff to pay tribute to Turkey's most sacred shrine. It is not one of the churches or the mosque the Pope will also be visiting, but something more significant to many Turks: the St. Peter's of secularism. The Pope's wreath-laying at this vast, austere shrine to the values of non-religious government, a visit considered mandatory in Turkey, reveals much about what is at stake in the controversy-scarred visit -- and why Turkish and European leaders are so worried.
The mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, the man who founded modern Turkey eight decades ago as the only fully secular state in the Muslim world, is visited by more Turks each year than any other site, sacred or profane, in the country. It is Mr. Ataturk's legacy, a democratic state that is a relatively peaceful bridge between the Middle East and Europe, that many fear could be threatened by an upsurge of Muslim anger that the Pope has provoked with this visit and the divisive words of his speeches.
Yesterday, Turkey's politicians scrambled to avoid a confrontation that would turn this visit into an Islam-versus-Christianity clash that could overshadow the secular state. Mr. Erdogan, who had earlier snubbed the Pope by deciding to attend the NATO summit in Latvia this week, yesterday agreed to greet him at the airport. And the leaders of Turkey's two largest secular opposition parties issued statements in support of the visiting Pope.
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