ANKARA, Turkey -- His predecessor was famous for his peripatetic globetrotting, but Pope Benedict XVI is about to embark on a journey that is as risky as any undertaken by Pope John Paul II.
Pope Benedict is scheduled to land in the Turkish capital today, the first stop on a four-day visit to this overwhelmingly Muslim nation on Europe's doorstep.
Although the trip was scheduled months ago, it arrives at a particularly delicate moment in the Vatican's relations with the Islamic world - a moment so laden with political peril that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided only yesterday that he would greet the pope after planning to be out of town.
Blunt words about Islam and violence and the 79-year-old pontiff's strong views on Turkey's unsuitability for European Union membership are sure to guarantee him a chilly if not openly hostile reception.
On Sunday, more 20,000 protesters gathered in Istanbul to demonstrate against the papal visit. They chanted "No to the pope!" and carried posters that depicted the pontiff as a fork-tongued serpent.
A pulp thriller called Attack on the Pope has suddenly become a minor best-seller in Turkey's largest city. Mindful that it was a Turk who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul 25 years ago, the Turkish security services are deploying thousands of police on the streets of Istanbul and the Vatican announced that there would be no "popemobile" parades on this visit.
In September, during a lecture at University of Regensburg in his native Bavaria, Pope Benedict ignited a furious controversy when he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor who said that most of the Prophet Muhammad's contributions to religion were "evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
The pope's use of the quote was roundly condemned by leaders of Muslim nations, including Erdogan, who called the words "ugly and unfortunate." At least two Muslim clerics called for the pope's death.
As the controversy spread, a nun was murdered in Somalia, Christians were attacked in Iraq and churches were burned on the West Bank. Outside London's Westminster Cathedral, protesters carried signs that said "May Allah Curse the Pope."
In response, the pope issued an unprecedented apology but not a retraction.
Another touchy issue between the Vatican and the Turks is the pope's view, articulated while he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, that it would be a "mistake" to allow Turkey to join the European Union.
