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COMMUNIQUE ON THE HOLY FATHER'S VISIT TO TURKEY

VATICAN CITY, NOV 2, 2006 (VIS) - Following press comments concerning the possible absence of Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during the Holy Father's forthcoming visit to Turkey from November 28 to December 1, the Holy See Press office today released the following declaration:

"It should be specified that the Holy See had already been informed - during the course of preparations for the trip - about the overlap with the prime minister's important engagement at the NATO summit meeting in Latvia. The Holy See had also been informed that the head of the government would try to be present in Turkey to meet the Holy Father but could not guarantee being able to do so, and that if he were absent, he would be represented by another important government figure: the vice prime minister."

Two converts to Christianity accused of “insulting Turkishness”

The two men are charged under Section 301 of the Penal Code of trying to convert teenagers. Nobel Prize laureate for literature Orhan Pamuk was also charged under the same section, which is challenged by the European Union.