What people say
For context, the full news report is here.
Here’s the relevant excerpt I am interested in
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Bardakoglu said Turkey was a free country where people had the democratic right to protest.
"But any street protests will not reflect the mainstream hospitable attitude of Turkey," he added.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a pious Muslim, said he expected the Pope to give positive statements that would improve ties between Christians and Muslims.
"I believe it will create a new climate," Gul told Reuters.
"He may make some good statements, saying we have only one God although we have different religions. We have sympathy for each other and we should not exploit the differences in a negative way."
The Pope is due to hold talks during his visit with the Istanbul-based spiritual head of the world’s 250 million Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew, who has complained of property and other restrictions his church faces in Turkey.
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With all due respect, I cannot bring myself to agree with the statement made by the Turkish minister. I’m not sure how the Pope would respond had he been confronted with such a statement publicly. But I know that Islam and Christianity are two different things. Our fundamental beliefs are different; the God we worship are not the same.
