Pope visits Turkey: Online debate part I

This will be Benedict XVI's first visit to a predominantly Muslim country

The Pope's four-day visit to Turkey has been overshadowed by a speech he made in September about Islam.

Turkey has a population of 73 million, of which the vast majority are Muslim and only a small percentage Christians.

Here two Turkish readers of the website - one Muslim, one Christian - discuss the issues surrounding the visit in an online debate hosted by the BBC.

This is part one of the debate. Follow the link below to read part two.

Click here to read part two of the debate

TUNAY EGIN, 34, ANTALYA, LAWYER - SECULAR MUSLIM

The Pope has already made a mistake by saying defamatory words about the prophet of Islam in Germany.

As a Pope, he is expected to be a partisan of peace and a representative of kindness, but I am afraid he has failed.

What concerns Turkish people is respect for their culture and religious values.

No one has a right to criticise my beliefs or those of my people

If there is an unjust attack they may react - as anyone would do in the world. But if there is respect then they are ready to live in peace as they have been doing for a hundred years.

I am not a very religious person and live as a westernised person in many respects.

But even I felt angry in this situation, because no one has a right to criticise my beliefs or those of my people.

Benedict XVI was completely wrong in what he said.

Islam has never ever brought evil to the world. You cannot blame 9/11 on Islam, in the same way that you cannot blame Jesus for the Inquisition or the Crusades.

It is also worth mentioning that this Pope is different to John Paul II - the latter seemed a much more peaceful figure.

The world has also changed. With the end of the Cold War, the powerful Western World now needs a new enemy - unfortunately some think this is Islam.

The new Pope is behaving as if he is a supporter of this new formation.

We saw these kind of popes in history several times, but none of them brought peace to the world. Nothing is more important than living in peace.

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BAHADIR, 30, ANKARA, WORKS FOR NGO - CHRISTIAN

It is good that the Pope is coming to Turkey.

There will obviously be people who will not be pleased and I was expecting small-scale street protests. But this is not a good enough reason for him to cancel the trip.

Benedict XVI can come here and bring a message of peace, and try to build bridges between Christians and Muslims.

Some see the comments made by the Pope as part of a general threat to Turkey from the 'West'

He also has a Catholic flock who are waiting for him with excitement.

Of course, I don't expect anything to change overnight - but I hope the Pope can make a difference in the long term.

John Paul II was very good at communicating this message of peace. Unfortunately it is true that the new Pope has made mistakes with what he has said.

Having said that, if you look at the speech the Pope gave about Mohammad, I don't think he meant to deliberately insult Muslims.

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul - once a cathedral, then a mosque, now a museum

He also has a right to say what he believes - after all, many Muslim clerics, scholars and politicians often talk about Christianity in a degrading way. Muslims should examine some of the things they say before criticising others.

I was expecting protests. There will always be some people who won't like his visit simply because he is the head of the Catholic Church.

But there will also be others on the streets who protest at everything - from demands made by the EU, to comments by the writer Orhan Pamuk, or the arrival of the Pope.

You see, some groups see the comments made by the Pope as part of a general threat to Turkey from the 'West'. This is why we may see nationalists and Islamists in agreement on this issue.

Unfortunately I think there is a sense of 'siege mentality' among some Turkish people, and I think this goes back to the way we see our history.

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Click here to read part two of the debate