Mon 23 December 2019:
‘We are from a people that built such a great civilization from Samarkand to Cordoba,’ says Turkish president Erdoğan
Following on its rich history of science and culture, now the Islamic world can forge a new renaissance, said Turkey’s president on Monday.
“The Islamic world, which made Istanbul, Cairo, Damascus, and Baghdad centers of science and culture for centuries, can realize a resurgence that is worthy of its history,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a ceremony at Istanbul Airport honoring Fuat Sezgin, a Turkish scholar who documented contributions by Muslim scientists.
Saying that the history of humanity has come down to our day through scientific riches rather than wars, he said that history gives people the opportunity to embrace their past as well as build their future.
“We should never forget that we are members of a nation that has built such a great civilization from Samarkand to Cordoba,” he added.
Scientific history as presented today is largely European-based and has an orientalist perspective, said Erdogan, calling a perspective placing Europe at the center of scientific development starting 500 years ago misleading.
Restricting history to the West and ignoring Muslim scholars is ignorance, perhaps intentional, he said, citing famed Muslim scholars that pioneered fields from geometry to sociology.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
