Erdoğan: Aristotle and Homer are Turkey's history

Faithful to the doctrine of incendiary statements, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to say that Turkey does not consist of the borders that appear on maps, but rather that "the borders of our hearts span three continents and seven seasons."

"Aristotle and Homer and their cities are the traces of our history, as well as of humanity," said the Turkish president, among other things, at the inauguration of the Assos-Troy double tunnel in the Dardanelles region.

"Like all the points of Anatolia, every point of the Dardanelles is adorned with the precious traces of the history of humanity and our history. Among them are the city of Aristotle, Assos and the city of Homer, Troy. Turkey is not just a country that consists of the borders that appear on maps," he added.

"The borders of our heart are wide, as described by our ancestors as 'three continents, seven seasons.' We are building the great and strong Turkey for all our friends who have turned their eyes and hearts to us, for all the victims for all the oppressed", he further pointed out.

Aristotle was an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Born in Stagira in Central Macedonia, not within the borders of today's Turkey, he was taught by Plato and was the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy within the Lyceum and the wider Aristotelian tradition.

For his part, the Greek poet Homer was born sometime between the 12th and 8th centuries BC, possibly somewhere on the coast of Asia Minor, but perhaps even Chios island.

He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time. To Plato, Homer was the one who "has taught Greece" (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν). From antiquity until the present day, he has influenced Western civilization, inspiring many of its most famous works of literature, music, art and film.

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