The fact that Turkish Premier Tayyip Erdogan may be unable to meet with Pope Benedict XVI when the pontiff visits Turkey should in no way be seen as a snub, a spokesman for the premier told ANSA on Thursday . There have been reports in the Italian and Turkish press that Ergodan would refuse to meet with the pope because of Benedict's recent alleged criticism of Islam . Ahmet Arslan said the premier had previous commitments which conflicted with a possible meeting with the pope, who will be in Turkey from November 28 to December 1 .The Turkish premier will be in Riga, Latvia, for a NATO summit until the night of November 29 and the next day he must chair a meeting in Ankara of the Supreme Defence Council, which had been scheduled since the start of the year and would last all day, he added. "Any intention of a diplomatic snub of the pope for his statements on Islam is totally out of the question," Arslan said .
Meanwhile, ANSA has been told by another spokesman, who preferred to remain anonymous, that final details still need to be worked out on the pope's schedule and a meeting with Erdogan may still be possible. A statement from the Vatican press office on Thursday said the Holy See had been aware of the Turkish premier's scheduling problems when arranging the pope's visit . According to the Vatican, Erdogan had indicated he would try to find time to meet with the pope, but if this was not possible a deputy premier would stand in for him. Turkey, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, was one of the countries which reacted strongly to Benedict's observations on Islam during a lecture at a German university in September .
The Turkish Premier and leading Islamic clerics sharply criticised the German pontiff and demanded an apology for citing a medieval emperor who criticised Islam . Benedict later said on at least four occasions that he deeply regretted the angry reactions his words had caused, saying the quotation did not reflect his own opinion . The pope was invited to Turkey by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and will visit the capital Ankara, Ephesus and Istanbul.