Erdogan: Turkish Youth Know Einstein but Not Muslim Thinkers
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/157583-erdogan-turkish-youth-know-einstein-but-not-muslim-thinkers
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Turkish students know Albert Einstein but can't name
any Muslim scientists or scholars, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
complained on Tuesday as he called for a new curriculum in schools.
"If you ask them who Einstein is, every young person has
something to say about him. If you ask who Ibn Sina is, you see the
child has never heard about him," Erdogan told a teachers' forum in the
southern city of Antalya.
Ibn Sina, more commonly known in as Avicenna, was an
11th century Islamic philosopher, doctor and scientist. The Persian
polymath is considered one of the most remarkable thinkers of the
Islamic Golden Age, during the Middle Ages, when Islamic caliphates
propounded scientific advances.
Erdogan, a pious Muslim who took over Turkey's
presidency in August after serving as prime minister for more a decade,
has sought to reinforce the image of Islam in his nation. His
increasingly strident campaign has detractors fearing he aims to
overturn Turkey's longstanding secular principles.
Erodgan last month stirred bemusement by declaring that
Muslims traveled to the Americas nearly three centuries before
Christopher Columbus.
Although the claim was mocked at home and abroad, the
president hit back by saying that the Muslim "discovery" should be
taught in Turkish schools and that his domestic critics were guilty of
an "ego complex" for denying his assertion.
On Tuesday, Erdogan said Turkish students should know about Turkish musicians as much as they do know about foreign composers.
"Our students should also learn about, know and listen
to Itri and Dede Efendi, the same as they know about Beethoven," he
said, making references to Ottoman-era classical composers alongside the
German composer.
"Our students should know about their own language and
the words, works and art of their ancestors without any complex, as much
as they learn other cultures and languages," he added.
"We should not forget that whoever imitates or goes after (others) will stand one step behind."
Posts
