• Submitted by: Camila
• Society
• 11 / 16 / 2014

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Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President said that America was discovered by the Muslims long before Christopher Columbus arrived. Such is the case that Columbus mentions the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast.

Speaking at a summit of Muslim leaders from Latin America, organized by the Turkish authorities Erdogan was willing to participate in the construction of a mosque in the place named by the Spanish explorer in Cuban lands.

"I would talk to my Cuban brothers, a mosque would fit perfectly on that hill well today," said the Turkish president.

A very minor current Muslim theologians and historians have questioned the discovery of Cuba by Columbus, suggesting an earlier Muslim presence at that time, but has never been found any trace of their presence.

In a controversial article published in 1996, historian Youssef Mroueh cited a passage from the stories of Columbus referring to a mosque sighted in Cuba; but his fellows unanimously dismissed his hypothesis, ensuring that the "mosque" was only a metaphorical image used to describe the shape of the landscape.

Earlier this year, a senior Turkish official visited the island and asked the authorities for permission to build a mosque in Old Havana. Last month, Turkish media said that the project had been canceled.