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.