The latest of these came, when he was heading a conference of Latin American Muslim leaders in Istanbul, another bit of 'La Gloire' as the French would describe it ....... pointing to a diary entry in which Columbus mentioned a mosque shaped object on a hill in Cuba, he stated that this proved that 'Muslims discovered the Americas more than three centuries before Christopher Columbus'. In fact he added, the "Muslim sailors arrived in America in 1178". He offered no proof of any of this he stated that "Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th Century."
Obviously, not content with the slow conquest of Western Europe, he is staking a claim to the Western Hemisphere as well. Apparently this statement was based upon the theories of a Muslim 'historian', Youssef Mroueh, who said in 1996 that the Columbus diary entry was proof that Muslims had reached the Americas first, and that "the religion of Islam was widespread".
Maybe There Are Similarities Between Them .... Eating Your Enemies Hearts |
Genuine scholars, by that I mean non Islamic ones (Not the BBC who can only suggest that not everyone agrees with this Islamic version of history), read the diary entry as a metaphorical one, describing an aspect of the mountain that resembled part of a mosque .... but as we have seen before, literalism is inherent in the way Muslims read all events surrounding their beliefs. So they believe that the Native Indians were 'Muslims' and therefore this is also 'historic' Muslim lands, much like 'Spain' or 'Israel'.
Back to the real world .... No Islamic structures have been found in America that pre-date Columbus, or indeed the 19th century, including on the hill in Cuba that they claim had a mosque on it. But to correct that historical oversight, Mr Erdogan said he thought "a mosque would go perfectly on the hill today," and that he would like to discuss building this with Cuba.
Just to complete his week of motor mouthing ..... he has also said that women cannot be treated as equal to men, and has accused feminists of rejecting motherhood. "You cannot put women and men on an equal footing. It is against nature." ..... He also said that women cannot do all the work done by men, he added, because it was against their "delicate nature. Our religion regards motherhood very highly. Feminists don't understand that, they reject motherhood." Women need equal respect rather than equality .... In the past he has urged women to have three children, and has spoken out against abortion and birth by Caesarean section.
Oddly, if a Russian, Polish or Hungarian politician speaks out like this, he is branded as a right-wing reactionary by the media here. But for some reason (which I can't possibly speculate on), when an Islamist does this, he is merely socially 'conservative'.
He is as mad as a hatter .....but then so are those in the EU who turn a blind eye to his behaviour. We reap what we sow ....
How can the UK support Turkeys attempt to get in to the EU? We would sell ourselves for some crappy trade.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest your right, the British government seems to have no sense of self reservation for us or our culture. Thanks for the comment.
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