The Turkish snubbing begins: Pope to be received only as "head of state"

CWNews:

Oct. 19 (AsiaNews) - The Turkish government will recognize Pope Benedict XVI only as a head of state when he visits that country in November, the AsiaNews service reports.

The Turkish daily Hurriyet said that the papal visit would not be recognized as a religious mission, since the Pontiff was invited by Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The government is thus ignoring the previous invitation issued to the Pontiff by the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I.

... In another display of the same reserved attitude, the Turkish government has announced that President Sezer will not meet the Pontiff’s plane when it arrives in Turkey. Instead the president will receive the Pope in a courtesy call later that day.

I'm sure we can expect more of the same in the coming weeks. The question is, "How much will the Vatican take?"

"Much more than I'm happy about" is probably the answer.