"He made the claim during a conference of Latin American Muslim leaders in Istanbul, pointing to a diary entry in which Columbus mentioned a mosque on a hill in Cuba.
Mr Erdogan also said "Muslim sailors arrived in America in 1178".
He said he was willing to build a mosque at the site Columbus identified.
The Turkish president - whose AK Party is rooted in political Islam - gave no further evidence to back up his theory, instead stating: "Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th Century."
Columbus is widely believed to have discovered the Americas in 1492, while trying to find a new route to India."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur (http://www.facebook.com/cenkuygurofficial) breaks it down.
*Read more here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30067490