An academic in Turkey has faced ridicule for claiming that Noah called his son before the mythical flood on a mobile phone.

The incident has raised concern among some commentators that Islamisation is weakening the country¡¯s universities.

Yavuz ?rnek, an assistant professor at Istanbul University¡¯s Institute of Marine Sciences and Management, made the comments to a television channel on 6 January, according to .

¡°There were huge 300 to 400-metre high waves and his [the Prophet Noah¡¯s] son was many kilometres away. The Quran says Noah spoke with his son. But how did they manage to communicate? Was it a miracle? It could be. But we believe he communicated with his son via cell phone,¡± the outlet quoted Dr ?rnek as saying.

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He also said that Noah¡¯s Ark was made of steel and powered by nuclear energy.

¡°I am a scientist, I speak for science,¡± Professor ?rnek added.

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The comments have attracted widespread attention in Turkey, with some seeing his statements as symptomatic of the increasingly religious, anti-intellectual turn encouraged by the government.

Using the incident as an example, one warned that ¡°many studies today highlight the serious brain drain from Turkey towards the West¡± and ¡°this is a country where imams close to the government are openly calling on Allah ¡®to protect us from the wickedness of the educated¡¯¡±.

Last year, the government introduced a new school curriculum that dropped the teaching of evolution at secondary schools.

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david.matthews@timeshighereducation.com