ANKARA - Pope Benedict XVI begins his first visit to a Muslim country, a four-day trip to Turkey where his controversial remarks in September linking Islam and violence remain fresh in memories.

A Turkish woman, wearing a headband that reads:'The ignorant and sneaky pope who insulted Islam and our Prophet should not come to Turkey', chants Islamic slogans during an anti-pope rally in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2006. [AP]

His welcome will be slightly less chilly than expected, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a conservative with islamist roots, agreeing to a brief airport meeting shortly after the pope arrives and just before Erdogan flies off to a NATO summit in Riga.

The Vatican warmly welcomed the move, saying it was a "much appreciated... gesture of attention."

The government spokesman, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, said Monday evening that he hoped the pontiff's visit would constitute a "turning point" in relations between Islam and Christianity.

The first leg of the pope's trip in the Turkish capital will be purely political.

He will make the compulsory visit to the hilltop mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern republic, for a wreath-laying ceremony before going to the Presidential Palace for an official welcome and a tete-a-tete with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

He then visits Ali Bardakoglu, the director of religious affairs, who had harsh words for the pope after his September 12 remarks in Regensburg, Germany, equating Islam with violence.

Bardakoglu had then accused Benedict XVI of harboring "hatred in his heart" for Muslims and said in an interview Tuesday that the visit, although "a step in the right direction," would not suffice to heal the hurt his remarks had made.

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