Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey as part of a crusade against Islam
Pastor Dale Morgan
Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey as part of a crusade against Islam*
From correspondents in Dubai
November 30, 2006 04:45am
Article from: Reuters
IRAQ'S al-Qaeda wing today condemned Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey as
part of a crusade against Islam aimed at pulling Turkey away from the
Muslim world.
"The visit of the Pope in reality is meant to add momentum to the
crusader campaign on the land of Islam after the failures of crusader
leaders," the al-Qaeda-led "Islamic State in Iraq" said in a statement
posted on the Internet.
It said his visit to the predominantly Muslim country was "an attempt to
extinguish the flame of Islam among our Muslim brothers in Turkey and to
wipe out their Islamic heritage... and to guarantee that they stay in
the quagmire of secularism established by ... (Kemal) Ataturk".
Ataturk is revered in Turkey as the founder of modern secular Turkey who
ended the tradition of Islamic rule of the Ottoman Empire.
During his visit, the Pope voiced support for Turkey's bid to join the
European Union, according to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
"We have a date with victory and martyrdom and an (Islamic) state that
rules under the commands of God the almighty, and then we shall break
the cross and spill the wine," the statement said.
Its authenticity could not be verified.