Erdogan: Muslims discovered America, not Columbus

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a bold claim Saturday, saying Muslims discovered the Americas about 300 years before Christopher Columbus.

Erdogan was speaking at the Istanbul summit for Muslim leaders of Latin America when he cited a journal entry from Columbus where the explorer mentioned a mosque on a hill in Cuba.

"Muslim sailors arrived in America in 1178," he said. "Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th Century."

Erdogan used the time to offer to build a mosque in Cuba where there is no religion is sanctioned by the Communist government.

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

Many scholars believe the line in his journal is metaphorical, meaning part of the hill looked like a mosque. No Islamic structures have been found in the Americas dating pre-Columbian.

This is not the first time this idea has has been floated. Muslim historian Youssef Mroueh said in a 1996 paper that Columbus' diary entry was proof that "the religion of Islam was widespread."

The first people to come to the Americas were from Asia and crossed the Bering Strait approximately 15,000 years ago.

While Columbus is often considered to be the first to discover the Americas in 1492, it is widely believed the Vikings landed on the North American shores about 500 years prior.