Istanbul wakes up at dawn. And at eight in the morning, when it is still dark on the street, it is the lights of the cars, already lined up along the main streets, that illuminate the day. They walk quickly on the sidewalks. And if in 2014, when Pope Francis arrived for a visit, it was not uncommon to see women, especially Saudi women, wearing the black niqab, today the same colors and customs of the West dominate.
«We are happy to see “our Pope”»the driver tells us, smiling, who takes us from the airport to the hotel in just over an hour and a half. The kilometers are not many, but you walk at walking pace. “Traffic is our main problem,” adds Ahmet.
A Sunni Muslim, he reels off the tashib (a sort of rosary) when the muezzin intones the call to prayer. But uses, for Leo XIV, the same possessive adjective that the Turks are used to reserving for John XXIII, the Pontiff who, as Apostolic Delegate, lived in Istanbul for ten years. They continue to call him “the first Turkish Pope in history”. And, also remembering the visit of Pope Francis, they feel “protected also by Jesus”, who Muslims consider a prophet.
The national press includes the Pope’s visit among the top ten news, focusing on peace in the Middle East. «This visit underlines the need for peace and stability at a global level, based on diplomacy and international law», write the main newspapers, starting with the Harriyet newspaper. «We will gather here at the Sultanahmet mosque”, says President Erdogan interviewed on national TV, “where we will be called to spread this message of peace. Turkey is a broker of oppression in places like Gaza. This meeting strengthens cooperation in a world facing conflict and division.”
Also in the foreground is what is seen here as a growing “Western Islamophobia”. The message of this visit, says the president interviewed by the Turkish media, «will not only reach Turkey or the Vatican, but also the Muslim and Christian world and will have such a resonance as to strengthen the hope of peace. In the West, racism, discrimination, hatred and Islamophobia are increasing at a rapidly alarming rate. We hope that, after this meeting, the dialogue will resume.”
The images refer to the Turkish leader’s visit to Rome in 2018, after «Trump had announced that Washington would recognize Western Israel. «A move», comments the local press, «which had received negative reactions from all over Turkey. Erdogan had gone to the Vatican to talk about that situation. And today, even with Pope Leo, it is important to talk about the entire Middle East, with particular reference to the status of Jerusalem and the reception of the numerous refugees fleeing wars.”
