Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that Islamic sailors found the New World in 1178 and built a mosque on Cuba - and even said Columbus saw it when he showed up in 1492.
His theory - which is not supported by most historians - came to light in a televised speech during an Istanbul summit of Muslims leaders from Latin America.
He brought up the supposed connection in a bid to establish a long history for links between his country and the distant continent.
He said: 'Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th century. Muslims discovered America in 1178, not Christopher Columbus.
He even offered to build a mosque in the country - which currently does not have any.
Erdogan said: 'I would like to talk about it to my Cuban brothers. A mosque would go perfectly on the hill today.'
The notion that Columbus mentioned a mosque in his diary, first floated in 1996, is widely understood to be a misunderstanding.
Instead, the passage in question is thought to be metaphor which describes the shape of the land.
As a Spaniard, Columbus would have been very familiar with Islamic architecture as Muslims still ruled parts of Spain during his lifetime.
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