Turks discovered America first
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Historian Yurtsever says he has broken the codes of Ottoman Admiral Piri Reis and claims Turks founded a country in the Americas
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
Historian Cezmi Yurtsever said he had broken the secret codes of a map belonging to 16th century Ottoman Admiral Piri Reis and claimed that the Turks had discovered America 25 years before Christopher Colombus, establishing a government in the New World.
Speaking at a press conference he said he thought boats drawn on the map east of Cuba could have been a code for something and upon investigation, ascertained that there was a country called Turks and Caicos in the vicinity.
“It is no coincidence that a country with the word 'Turk' in its name exists there. As Piri Reis was drawing up his map in 1513, he was using both Colombus' map and certain information that only he knew. Hundreds of years later, we see a country called Turks and Caicos.” He also said Caicos sounded similar to "kayık" (boat) in Turkish, and referred to the country as "Turks and Boats" for the duration of his press conference.
“Further research showed that the capital of the country of Turks and Boats, the Grand Turk, was the way Europeans used to describe Ottoman Sultan Süleyman. What's even more surprising is the fact that in 1869, the Grand Turk's flag featured the Ottoman crescent and three stars. All these facts show that the state of Turks and Boats, which is still part of the British Commonwealth, was founded by Turks loyal to the Ottoman Empire.”
Yurtsever said Turks arrived in America 25 years before Colombus, claiming that the Ottoman symbol featured in the flag was removed in 1873.
He said world history needs to be reassessed after the codes of Piri Reis's map are further analyzed.
|
Turks Discover the New World – an alternative view
The Turkish Historian Cezmi Yurtsever use of the name of the Turks and Caicos Islands as an argument for the Turks discovering the New world has no basis in truth. All of his arguments are taken from loose connections and without any real research on the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Using any historic map and then comparing names used today is a weak starting point. The islands in the Turks and Caicos Islands have had many names, initially named by the Spanish, then on French Maps and then by the English. Often names become adapted and altered by accidental spelling mistakes and misreading of names.
The word Turk does not appear on any maps of the Turks and Caicos region until Cornelli’s 1688 map. On this map is the reference ‘Conciua ou Turks’. This is not the name of an Island but more likely a warning as it translates to ‘where the Turks gather’. Many believe that the Turks Islands were named after the cactus that has a ‘Turkish fez’ red top. However this 1688 map suggests a more sinister root. At this time Ottoman ships, crewed by Turks, were attacking European ships in the Mediterranean. These vessels soon became classed as pirate vessels and “Turk’ became a generic word for pirate. Thus the reference on the 1688 map looks like a warning. At this time pirates were leaving Jamaica and seeking new homes, and the Bermudans (akin to pirates) were settling in modern day Turks Islands. You can imagine the Spanish ships that had to sail through this area were fearful about this increased risk of attack and plundering by these pirates. The islands only start to be called the Turks Islands around 50 years later and it seems that map makers had mistakenly seen the warning as the name for the Islands.
The idea that Grand Turk referred to the Ottoman leader who was known as Grand Turk is also unfounded. During its history the largest island on both the Caicos Bank and Turks bank were named Grand. Grand Caicos eventually became Middle Caicos but Grand Turk has kept its name.
The idea that Caicos is derived from the similar sounding Turkish word for boat is also unfounded. Caicos, or a derivation of it, appeared on the earliest maps of the Islands and almost certainly has roots in the Spanish word for Island, or cays.
The Museum has found no reference at all to a TCI flag which contained a crescent and stars. It is believed that TCI flew the Union Jack, without any additional images until 1870 when the Turks and Caicos Islands flag gained a central disc on the Union Jack which contained a scene of a salt raker, salt piles and a salt ship to reflect the country’s main trade. This was replaced in the 1960s by the present flag.
To conclude, Yurtsever either needs to review his data and not make such dramatic claims, or alternatively provide the original research notes and reference which collaborate his theory.
Nigel Sadler
Director
Turks and Caicos National Museum
tel - (01 649) 946 2160
fax -(01 649) 946 2160
Turks and Caicos National Museum
PO Box 188
Front Street
Grand Turk
Turks and Caicos Islands
British West Indies
http://www.tcmuseum.org
|
BUSINESSES
