The International Institute of Islamic Thought, a privately held non-profit organization based in the USA, canceled a book talk by Ahmet Kuru, a professor of political science at San Diego State University, due to an article in which the author criticized the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Remove from your calendar! @IIITfriends cancelled my book talk, because they found out an article where I criticized Erdogan. My talk would be on my book, not Erdogan. So the cancellation is not on the “content” of the talk, but on who I am. Erdogan is influential, even in the US,” Kuru tweeted.
This is not the first time an event is cancelled allegedly at Turkey’s request. In April, 2019, Colombia University canceled a panel discussion on Turkey two days before the event, citing “academic standards.”
Steven A. Cook, one of the panelists and a senior fellow for Middle East & Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, has tweeted that the decision was made after “the university came under pressure form Turkish government.
“Disappointed to learn that @Columbia ‘s Provost effectively canceled this panel two days before the event, citing “academic standards.” One can only assume that the university came under pressure form the govt of #Turkey and its supporters. Terrible precedent,” Cook tweeted.
