Turkey sends the Quran, the Muslim holy book, written in Braille alphabet to many countries around the world, the head of the International Union for Braille Quran Services has said.
"We aim to create an academic ground for the visually impaired people reciting the Quran," Selahattin Aydın told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Aydın, who himself is blind, said that Egypt, Malaysia and Jordan are among the countries that currently print the Islamic holy book using Braille - a tactile writing system used by the visually impaired. "An ordinary visually impaired person can learn to read the holy book with a Braille alphabet within seven to 15 days," he said. Aydın said that the International Union for Braille Quran Services is an Istanbul-based umbrella organization of a number of foundations for blind people with operations in 10 countries. It was founded in 2014. "We provide information to our members in 17 countries, and cooperate in printing the Quran," he added. He added that the union has organized three conferences on Braille Quran so far. He also noted that the first braille Quran appeared in Turkey in the 1980s. Turkey printed the holy book using the Braille alphabet for the first time in the 1990s.In Turkey, the first official courses on reading the Quran written in Braille took place in the Mediterranean city of Antalya in 1989, he added.
The Braille alphabet was invented by Louis Braille in 1829 for the reading and writing of visually impaired people.
