Bağış delivers message to Vatican on Cyprus before pope’s visit

Turkish state minister and top EU negotiator Egemen Bağış will be meeting today with Dominique François Joseph Mamberti, the secretary for relations with states, which is equivalent to foreign minister, in the Roman Curia for the Holy See.

The meeting comes at a crucial time, when Pope Benedict XVI will be visiting Cyprus during a three-day trip starting on Friday. “I will brief Mr. Mamberti on the current status of talks on the divided island and explain the sensitivities the Turkish government feels on some of the issues that might arise during the pope’s visit there,” Bağış told Today’s Zaman on board the plane from Hannover to Rome. “I will also seek enhanced dialogue on various matters including Turkey’s EU bid,” he added.

The pope’s visit comes just days after the newly elected leader of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), Derviş Eroğlu, resumed talks with Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias after a two-month break because of the presidential elections in the north. The pope is not planning on making a visit to the Turkish north during his first ever visit to the island and will be staying in the Vatican Embassy, located on the green line in Nicosia.

“We want the pope to hear the Turkish arguments on the island because we fear he might be misled on some of the issues by the Greek Cypriots,” Bağış said. Recalling Benedict’s visit to Turkey in 2006, he stressed that Turkey and the Holy See have established close relations and have developed an understanding on many issues. The Turkey visit helped calm outrage by Muslims after the pope linked Islam to violence during a speech in Germany.

While both the Vatican and the Greek Cypriot government are carefully trying to avoid any controversy over sensitive religious issues between the Catholic and Orthodox communities on the island, the latter is nevertheless seeking to capitalize on high-profile support to garner political support against the Muslim Turkish north.

During his 2006 trip to the Vatican, the late Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, handed the pope an album of photographs of destroyed churches in the Turkish north and of others converted for other uses. It was reported at the time that Benedict said “such destruction (is) incredible.” Turkey has responded to the public relations campaign in kind by publishing a book displaying the damage and destruction of Turkish religious heritage including mosques and cemeteries in the south under Greek Cypriot rule. There is also a tiny Catholic community with three churches in the north.

Bağış’s meeting at the Vatican today follows a series of talks he had on Monday with Italian officials, including Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, European Affairs Minister Andrea Ronchi, Lamberto Dini, the president of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Italian Senate, and Mario Pescante, the president of the Italian Parliament’s EU commission. He is also scheduled to meet today with Gianni Letta, secretary to the Council of Ministers, and Roberto Di Giovan Paolo, secretary-general of the Italian Parliament’s EU commission.

Vatican supports EU bid

The Vatican is not a member of the EU but enjoys a special relationship with the union and exerts considerable influence on its members, especially the ones with predominantly Catholic populations. Turkey is happy with the Vatican’s support for Ankara’s bid to join the EU, and part of the reason Bağış is making the visit is to shore up support for the stalled negotiations with Brussels.

The pope’s visit to Turkey in 2006 marked a dramatic departure from the previous position, where the Vatican opposed EU membership for Turkey, to the support expressed by Benedict XVI during talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Prior to his selection as Pope Benedict XVI, German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger expressed concerns over the prospect, suggesting that, historically, Turkey has never been a part of Europe, which, of course, angered Turks.

The change of heart in the Vatican scored political points for the Holy See in Turkey as a papal spokesman said the pope “viewed positively and encouraged” the process of Turkish entry into the EU “on the basis of common values and principles.”