ðbrahim Kalñn (born 15 September 1971) is a Turkish bureaucrat and academic who is the current director of the National Intelligence Organization (MðT). An academic specialising in Islamic philosophy, Kalñn received his doctorate at George Washington University under the supervision of Seyyed Hossein Nasr. He previously served as Coordinator of the Office of Public Diplomacy, of which he was also a founder, Deputy Undersecretary for Foreign Relations and Public Diplomacy at the Office of the Prime Minister, Deputy Secretary General Responsible for Strategy and International Relations at the Office of the President, the presidential spokesperson and senior advisor to President Recep Tayyip ErdoÃÂan from 2014 to 2023 and as the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Security and Foreign Policy in the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye. He is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Education and academic career
ðbrahim Kalñn was born in Istanbul into a family from Erzurum. Kalñn received his B.A. in history from the Istanbul University Department of History and M.A. from International Islamic University Malaysia. In 2002, Kalñn received a PhD in Islamic studies from George Washington University under the supervision of Islamic philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr. His dissertation was later published as Knowledge in Later Islamic Philosophy: MullàṢadràon Existence, Intellect, and Intuition.
From 2002 to 2005, he was a faculty member at the Department of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He lectured on Islamic philosophy at Ibn Haldun University between 2019 and 2022, becoming a professor in 2020. He established and chaired (2005-2009) SETA Foundation (Foundation for Political, Economic, and Social Research) based in Ankara, Turkey. His academic interest is in post-Avicennan Islamic philosophy.
Bureaucratic career
From 2009 onwards ðbrahim Kalñn served as Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister, Coordinator of the Office of Public Diplomacy, of which he was also a founder, Deputy Undersecretary for Foreign Relations and Public Diplomacy at the Office of the Prime Minister, Deputy Secretary General Responsible for Strategy and International Relations at the Office of the President, Acting Chairman of the Presidential Council for Security and Foreign Policies, and Chief Advisor for Security and Foreign Policies at the Office of the President, respectively. In addition to his duties in bureaucracy, he also continued to serve as Presidential Spokesperson, a position he had assumed in 2014 with the title of ambassador, until he was appointed as Director of the National Intelligence Organization. On June 5, 2023, ErdoÃÂan appointed Kalñn as director of the National Intelligence Organization.
Personal life
His parents are from Erzurum. He is married and has three children. Kalñn is also known for his artistic interests, particularly in Turkish folk music. He professionally plays the baÃÂlama, sings, has composed original works and has music on YouTube with millions of views. In addition to his musical activities, Kalñn is an avid photographer, noted for capturing images of natural landscapes and cultural scenes during his travels. Alongside his political career, he is recognized for his intellectual depth and artistic vision.
He speaks English, Arabic, Persian and French.
Selected works
Books
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. ðslam ve Batñ. ðstanbul: ðSAM, 2007.
- Bülbül, Kudret, Bekir Berat ÃÂzipek ve ðbrahim Kalñn, ed. AÃ
Âk ile Nefret Arasñnda TürkiyeâÂÂde Toplumun Batñ Algñsñ. Ankara: SETA, 2008.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. Knowledge in Later Islamic Philosophy: Mulla Sadra on Existence, Intellect and Intuition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. Akñl ve Erdem. ðstanbul: Küre Yayñnlarñ, 2013.
- M. Ghazi bin Muhammad, ðbrahim Kalñn ve Kalñn, ðbrahim. "M. Ghazi bin Muhammad and M. Hashim Kamali, ed. War, Peace in Islam: The Uses and Abuses of Jihad. Amman: MABDA, 2013.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim, ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Sadra, Mulla. The Book of Metaphysical Penetrations, A Parallel English-Arabic Text of Kitab al-MashaâÂÂir. Ed. ðbrahim Kalñn. Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2014.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. Varlñk ve ðdrak: Molla SadrââÂÂnñn Bilgi Tasavvuru. ÃÂev. Nurullah KoltaÃ
Â. ðstanbul: Klasik Yayñnlarñ, 2015.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. Ben, ÃÂteki ve ÃÂtesi: ðslam-Batñ ðliÃ
Âkileri Tarihine GiriÃ
Â. ðstanbul: ðnsan Yayñnlarñ, 2016.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. Barbar, Modern, Medenî: Medeniyet ÃÂzerine Notlar. ðstanbul: ðnsan Yayñnlarñ, 2018.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. Perde ve Mânâ: Akñl ÃÂzerine Bir Tahlil. ðstanbul: ðnsan Yayñnlarñ, 2020.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. Açñk Ufuk: ðyi, DoÃÂru ve Güzel DüÃ
Âünme ÃÂzerine. ðstanbul: ðnsan Yayñnlarñ, 2021.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. Gök Kubbenin Altñnda. ðstanbul: Mecra Kitap, 2022.
Book chapters
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. "The Sacred Versus the Secular: Nasr on Science.â Library of Living Philosophers: Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Ed. L. E. Hahn, R. E. Auxier and L. W. Stone. Chicago: Open Court Press, 2001, 445âÂÂ462.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂThree Views of Science in the Islamic World.â God, Life, and the Cosmos: Christian and Islamic Perspectives. Ed. Ted Peters Muzaffar Iqbal and Syed Nomanul Haq. Oxford: Routledge, 2002, 19âÂÂ53.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂRoots of Misconseption: Euro-American Perceptions of Islam Before and After September 11.â Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition. Ed. Joseph E. B. Lumbard. Indiana: World Wisdom, 2009: 143âÂÂ187.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂIslamophobia and the Limits of Multiculturalism.â Islamophobia and the Challenges of Pluralism in the 21st Century, Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2011, 50âÂÂ61.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂThe Ak Party in Turkey.â The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics. Ed. John L. Esposito and Emad El-Din Shahin. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013, 423âÂÂ439.
Articles
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂAn Annotated Bibliography of the Works of Mullâ Sadrâ with a Brief Account of His Life.â Islamic Studies. 42/1 (2003): 21âÂÂ62.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂIslam and Peace: A Survey of the Sources of Peace in the Islamic Tradition.â Islamic Studies. 44/3 (2005): 327âÂÂ362.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂDebating Turkey in the Middle East: the Dawn of a New Geo-Political Imagination?â Insight Turkey. (2009): 83âÂÂ96.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂModern Dünyada Geleneksel ðslâmâÂÂñn ðzini Süren Bir Hakîm: Seyyid Hüseyin Nasr.â ðÃ
 Ahlakñ Dergisi. 2/3 (2009): 135âÂÂ142.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂUS-Turkish Relations under Obama: Promise, Challenge and Opportunity in the 21st Century.â Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies. 12/1 (2010): 93âÂÂ108.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂSoft Power and Public Diplomacy in Turkey.â Perceptions: Journal of International Affairs. 16/3 (2011): 5âÂÂ23.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂTurkish Foreign Policy: Framework, Values, and Mechanisms.â International Journal. 67/1 (2012): 7âÂÂ21.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂAfter the Coup Attempt, TurkeyâÂÂs Success Story Continues.â Insight Turkey. 18/3 (2016): 11âÂÂ17.
- Kalñn, ðbrahim. âÂÂHoca Ahmed Yesevî, Hüküm ve Hikmet.â Bilig. 80 (2017): 1âÂÂ14.
As contributor
- MacMillan Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2nd Edition
- MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religion 2nd Edition
- Biographical Encyclopedia of Islamic Philosophy
- Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World
References
External links