Erdogan slams ridicule of 'Muslims discovered Americas' claim

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today hit back at ridicule of his claim that Islamic explorers discovered the Americas three centuries before Columbus, accusing his Muslim critics of lacking "self-confidence".
In an aggressive rebuttal of the criticism heaped in some quarters on his comments, Erdogan also suggested that the purported "discovery" of the Americas by Muslims should be taught in schools.
"A big responsibility falls on the shoulders of the national education ministry and YOK (higher education board) on this issue," Erdogan said at a ceremony in Ankara.
"If the history of science is written objectively, it will be seen that Islamic geography's contribution to science is much more than what's known," Erdogan said in televised comments.

Erdogan, a pious Muslim who has been in power for more than a decade, stirred up controversy on Saturday when he claimed the Americas were discovered by Muslims in the 12th century, nearly three centuries before Christopher Columbus.
He cited as evidence for his claim that "Columbus mentioned the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast."

Today, Erdogan insisted that "very respected scientists in Turkey and in the world" supported his claim.
"Some youth of our country have begun objecting to this without doing any research or paying attention to discussions. Not only youths but also some very senior figures have begun disputing it.

"Why? Because they still do not believe a Muslim can achieve this... They do not believe that their ancestors carried the ships over land to the Golden Horn," he said, referring to Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II's conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453.
"They did not believe in the leaders who closed the Dark Ages and opened up the New Age. This is a lack of self-confidence."
His claim had been mercilessly mocked by some prominent columnists in the Turkish media.
"Now it should be the turn to correct other assumptions misunderstood by the world," wrote Mehmet Yilmaz of the Hurriyet daily with heavy sarcasm, suggesting that Erdogan's next idea maybe that a Muslim, rather than Isaac Newton, discovered gravity.

Devlet Bahceli, leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said today the controversy was a political manoeuvre devised by Erdogan to "cover up his faults", including corruption claims targeting his inner circle.
But pro-government media supported Erdogan's claim, saying world history for too long had been based on a distorted Western interpretation.