Two Christian converts went on trial today in Turkey, for grievously insulting an abstract concept.

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Two men who converted to Christianity went on trial Thursday for allegedly insulting “Turkishness” and inciting religious hatred against Islam, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The trial opened just days before a visit to Turkey by Pope Benedict XVI. During his visit, the pontiff is expected to discuss improved religious rights for the country’s tiny Christian minority who complain of discrimination.

Hakan Tastan, 37, and Turan Topal, 46, are accused of making the insults and of inciting hate while allegedly trying to convert other Turks to Christianity. If convicted, the two Turkish men could face up to nine years in prison.

Also from Turkey, the Associated Press gives us this deadpan headline: Protesters occupying building detained.

Protesters = radical Islamists.

Building = the Hagia Sophia.

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Police on Wednesday detained about 40 members of a Turkish nationalist party who earlier had occupied one of Istanbul’s most famous buildings, the Haghia Sophia, to protest the visit next week of Pope Benedict XVI.

The protesters belong to the Great Unity Party, a far right-wing group that has previously staged demonstrations against the planned Nov. 28-Dec. 1 visit. They entered the 6th century former Byzantine church and mosque, shouting “Allahu akbar!” — “God is great!” — and then knelt to perform Islamic prayers. They also shouted a warning to Benedict: “Pope, don’t make a mistake, don’t wear out our patience.”

A group leader read a statement saying Benedict had offended Muslims with his comments linking violence and Islam, but the reading was interrupted by police.

When the protesters refused to surrender, a policeman used pepper spray on them.