Vatican City, Nov. 11 (AP): Pope Benedict XVI will meet with an Islamic cleric who was among the first Muslim officials to denounce him for his remarks on Islam and violence, the Vatican said today in announcing details of the pontiff's upcoming trip to Turkey.

Immediately after arriving in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, Benedict will visit the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern, secular Turkish state.

A week ago, thousands of nationalist Turks demonstrated there, vowing to defend Turkey’s secular government against radical Islamic influences while urging their political leaders not to make too many concessions to gain EU membership.

Benedict will meet Turkey's President for religious affairs, Ali Bardakoglu, a top Islamic cleric. Bardakoglu was among the first prominent Muslim figures — and one of the most vehement — to denounce Benedict for the September 12 speech in which Benedict quoted a Byzantine emperor's remarks about Islam and violence.

Benedict has since expressed regret that the remarks caused offence and has stressed they did not reflect his personal opinion. He has also expressed esteem for Islam.

Bardakoglu had called the Pope’s remarks in the September 12 speech “extraordinarily worrying, saddening and unfortunate”.

The pontiff will also meet Turkey's deputy Premier. Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has already said he will not be meeting the Pope because he will be attending a Nato summit in Latvia but denied he was trying to avoid an encounter with the pontiff.