“Let him come every year", "He is not an enemy of Islam, he is welcome”. These are some of the comments that can be heard in the streets of Istanbul over these days, evidence of "how the Pope is surprising the Turks". This is stated, in a note for SirEuropa (out tomorrow on old.agensir.it), by the Turkish Bishops’ spokesman, mgr. Georges Marovitch. "Among the many things that are emerging from this apostolic journey in Turkey, there are the faces of the ordinary people, happy that the Pope is in their country. Many Muslim friends are confirming it: they did not except such a loveable Pontiff, one so willing to identify with the Turkish reality. His meetings with Prime Minister Erdogan, with the President of the Republic Sezer and the Directorate of Religious Affairs of Turkey, Bardakoglu, have marked a turning point in his journey, defusing all the tensions of the past few days". Not even Al Qaeda’s threats, "have dented the optimism of the Pope", who, adds Marovitch, "after his first meeting with Bartholomew I, looked happy and satisfied. The climate is relaxed and hopefully it will remain like that even after his departure. This applies most of all to our Christian and Catholic communities, that are a minority and that come out of this journey encouraged and reassured to move on".
