Turkish opera buffa (now at its best!)

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan keeps hosting very important heads of state who want to see all Muslims dead – last week, the guest was Pope Francis and this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A day before the papal visit to the Crescent and Star, Mr. Erdoğan said “foreigners” were unable to solve the problems of the Middle East because Western states “don’t like us.”

(“Foreigners” are non-Muslims. So, for the Turks, Indonesians, Egyptians, Syrians, Moroccans, Saudis and Iranians are not foreigners – locals with whom the Turks cannot communicate with a common language.)

“Only we [Muslims] can solve our problems. I speak openly; foreigners love oil, gold, diamonds and the cheap labor force of the Islamic world. They like the conflicts, fights and quarrels of the Middle East. Believe me, they don’t like us,” Mr. Erdoğan said. “They look like friends, but they want us dead, they like seeing our children die.”

If Pope Francis did not convert to Islam during his flight to Turkey, he met with a man who thinks the pope likes to see “our children die.” So did Mr. Putin.  

The Turkish opera buffa is at its best. For his part, the main character told the pope, “Let’s stop Islamophobia.” To play his part, the pope called for a “dialogue that can deepen the understanding and appreciation” between faiths. Thundering applause. And, privately, loud laughter.

Could Mr. Erdoğan have told the Pope that he believes Christians, including the Holy See, want to see Muslim children dead? No. That was not in the script featuring their “interfaith dialogue.”

At the start of his visit to Turkey, Pope Francis called for interfaith dialogue to counter fanaticism and fundamentalism....