American Muslims’ Love Affair With Erdogan and ICNA Convention
How ICNA sparked controversy over inviting Ibrahim Kalin
The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), one of the largest Muslim organizations in the U.S., organized an annual event in Chicago on Dec. 28. The gathering offered an opportunity for self-reflection and wider analysis of the current state of Muslim affairs across the U.S. and the world. It was, as in the past, a great chance for a dozen participants with diverse backgrounds to dwell upon a wide array of issues and share their commentary on inter-faith dialogue, contemporary challenges the Muslim world face and the place of the Muslim individual in a rapidly changing modern society.
The usually flawless convention, however, was somehow tainted this time by a notable controversy: Ibrahim Kalin, the chief advisor and spokesperson of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was one of the speakers who was invited to address the audience. It was not the first time Kalin, who had acquaintances with the organization from the days of his academic life in the U.S., would speak at the gathering. But this time, his presence stirred a backlash from other Muslim communities who harbored genuine resentment and suspicion over Erdogan’s authoritarian policies in Turkey. The Kalin case, therefore, went beyond a simple invitation and represented a steep moral challenge…
