Turkey’s president Erdoğan on Monday attended a ceremony marking the passing some 800 years ago of a legendary religious poet and mystic.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.
Born into a Turkic family in 1207, in what is now Afghanistan, Rumi is one of the most widely read philosophers in the world, with teachings that transcend boundaries of race, color, and religion.
In Turkey Rumi is fondly remembered by his followers as Mevlana -- which means scholar.
Upon his death in 1273, Rumi’s followers founded the Mevlevi Order, also known as the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, famous for the Sufi dance known as the Sema ceremony.
Every year, an international commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of Rumi’s union with God is held in Konya on Dec. 7-17 in honor of the Muslim scholar.