The terrorist organization Islamic State is trying to destroy the culture and historical heritage of Islamic civilization, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan said commenting on the burning of the library in Mosul.
Erdogan compared this action with the destruction of libraries in Baghdad by the Mongols in the XIII century and the burning of the unique library in Timbuktoo in Mali in January 2013.
"Today, a terrorist organization active in Syria and Iraq is taking the same path, trying to destroy everything in our civilization, culture and roots. At a library in Mosul some 8,000 special documents were unfortunately burned," he said, opening an exhibition of classical art in Istanbul.
The Turkish President expressed confidence that Islamic civilization has managed to sustain its existence against all such cultural massacres and attempted genocides. "Our civilization attaches great importance to knowledge and learning, books and libraries," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.
Erdogan added that the Prophet Muhammad preached that Muslims must keep learning until the last day of their life.
