Muslim world can forge renaissance: Turkish leader

By Murat Paksoy, Zehra Melek Cat, Kenan Irtak, Cigdem Munibe Alyanak, and Elif Kucuk

ISTANBUL (AA) - 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.

During his speech, Erdogan also mentioned that passenger traffic at Istanbul Airport has already reached 50 million annually.

This puts the airport on track to attract 90 million passengers a year, and then 150 million, and eventually 200 million.

Istanbul Airport, whose first phase officially opened in October 2018, took over air traffic from the former main Ataturk Airport this April.

The new facility was named Airport of the Year this November by readers of U.K.-based International Airport Review magazine, beating out London Heathrow, Sydney, (Australia) and Changi (Singapore).

- Who was Fuat Sezgin?

Born in the eastern Bitlis province in 1924, Sezgin studied at Istanbul University, where he earned his B.A. and later his Ph.D. in Arabic language and literature.

He continued his studies at Frankfurt University, Germany in 1960 following a military coup in Turkey.

He devoted considerable time to studying and listing scientific contributions made by Muslim/Arabic scholars throughout history. He wrote numerous books and articles.

The recipient of numerous international academic honors, Sezgin was also awarded Germany’s order of merit.

In 2010 he founded the Research Foundation for the History of Science in Islam to support activities of the Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam.

In 2013, he also founded the History of Science in Islam Institute at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University in Istanbul.

Sezgin knew over 20 languages. including Syriac, Hebrew, and German.

He died on June 30, 2018 at age 95.