Erdogan: Muslims discovered America in 12th century

[Syt]

http://news.yahoo.com/erdogan-says-muslims-not-columbus-discovered-americas-162759161.html

Erdogan says Muslims, not Columbus, discovered Americas

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that the Americas were discovered by Muslims in the 12th century, nearly three centuries before Christopher Columbus set foot there.

"Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus," the conservative president said in a televised speech during an Istanbul summit of Muslim leaders from Latin America.

"Muslim sailors arrived in America from 1178. Columbus mentioned the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast," Erdogan said.

Erdogan said that Ankara was even prepared to build a mosque at the site mentioned by the Genoese explorer.

"I would like to talk about it to my Cuban brothers. A mosque would go perfectly on the hill today," the Turkish leader said.

History books say that Columbus set foot on the American continent in 1492 as he was seeking a new maritime route to India.

A tiny minority of Muslim scholars have recently suggested a prior Muslim presence in the Americas, although no pre-Columbian ruin of an Islamic structure has ever been found.

In a controversial article published in 1996, historian Youssef Mroueh refers to a diary entry from Columbus that mentions a mosque in Cuba. But the passage is widely understood to be a metaphorical reference to the shape of the landscape.

[The Brain]

Ah, so that's why America sucks.

[Viking]

Unlike the claims that the Chinese did it, or the Welsh did it or the Musselmans did it the Icelanders did do it and we have y'know archeology.

In any case none of these putative and (one) real discovery really matter since they had no effect. This says more about Erdogan than about reality.

[Martinus]

This reminds me of the old Soviet era joke - who is right, the imperalists who claim that the lightbulb was first invented by Thomas Alva Edison or the socialists who claim that the first lightbulb was invented by Aleksandr Nikolaevich Liodygin (the Russian "genius" who was credited with inventing most of the modern era inventions).

The answer was that they are both right - Liodygin did invent the first lightbulb, but Edison invented the first lightbulb that gave light.

[Razgovory]

Unlike the claims that the Chinese did it, or the Welsh did it or the Musselmans did it the Icelanders did do it and we have y'know archeology.

In any case none of these putative and (one) real discovery really matter since they had no effect. This says more about Erdogan than about reality.

Fortunately they didn't stay.

[Sheilbh]

Great news especially as I found out this week that Philae's a Muslim too.

[DGuller]

This reminds me of the old Soviet era joke - who is right, the imperalists who claim that the lightbulb was first invented by Thomas Alva Edison or the socialists who claim that the first lightbulb was invented by Aleksandr Nikolaevich Liodygin (the Russian "genius" who was credited with inventing most of the modern era inventions).

The answer was that they are both right - Liodygin did invent the first lightbulb, but Edison invented the first lightbulb that gave light.

[Jacob]

Great news especially as I found out this week that Philae's a Muslim too.

Do tell.

[CountDeMoney]

Great news especially as I found out this week that Philae's a Muslim too.

Do tell.

How disappointing;  figured you would know that Philae was an ancient Egyptian reference.

[alfred russel]

Does this mean he thinks muslims are at fault for bringing western diseases to the americas?

[Jacob]

How disappointing;  figured you would know that Philae was an ancient Egyptian reference.

And "ancient Egyptian" --> "muslim" somehow?

[Syt]

I thought Egyptians/Cleopatra = black?

[CountDeMoney]

How disappointing;  figured you would know that Philae was an ancient Egyptian reference.

And "ancient Egyptian" --> "muslim" somehow?

I'm assuming that is Shiv's point, yeah.

[Sheilbh]

Sorry nothing so high-brow or intellectual. I was just making a joke about the comet lander Philae

[grumbler]

Sorry nothing so high-brow or intellectual. I was just making a joke about the comet lander Philae

Were you wearing a coat and tie when you made that joke?  If not, be prepared for the disdain of the Languish Highbrow Society.