” “"We had known for a long time that the Prime Minister had an engagement in Riga, Latvia, for the NATO summit". With these words, the spokesman of the Turkish Bishops, mgr. Georges Marovitch, defuses the speculations that had been made by several papers on the missed meeting between the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Benedict XVI, during the Pope’s visit to Turkey from 28th November to 1st December. "After the Pope’s speech in Ratisbon says the spokesman to SIR the Turkish papers wrote that the President of the Republic would not meet the Pope, but another government delegate would meet him in his place. Back then, we were surprised. Then, the news was corrected: President Necdet Sezer will receive Benedict XVI but without the Prime Minister, Erdogan, who will be in Riga for the NATO summit". (to be continued)” ” ” “
