Qaeda says Pope wants to pull Turkey from Islam-Web
Source: Reuters
DUBAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Iraq's al Qaeda wing on Wednesday condemned Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey as part of a crusade against Islam aimed at pulling Turkey away from the Muslim world. "The visit of the Pope in reality is meant to add momentum to the crusader campaign on the land of Islam after the failures of crusader leaders," the al Qaeda-led "Islamic State in Iraq" said in a statement posted on the Internet. It said his visit to the predominantly Muslim country was "an attempt to extinguish the flame of Islam among our Muslim brothers in Turkey and to wipe out their Islamic heritage... and to guarantee that they stay in the quagmire of secularism established by ... (Kemal) Ataturk". Ataturk is revered in Turkey as the founder of modern secular Turkey who ended the tradition of Islamic rule of the Ottoman Empire. During his visit, the Pope voiced support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union, according to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. "We have a date with victory and martyrdom and an (Islamic) state that rules under the commands of God the almighty, and then we shall break the cross and spill the wine," the statement added. Its authenticity could not be verified.
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