Marxist critique of intel chief Kalın's book: What seeks he in Heidegger's hut?

WISE NEWS PRESS / ISTANBUL, TURKEY — Dec. 6, 2025

National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Chief İbrahim Kalın's book "Journey to Heidegger's Hut," recounting his visit to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger's cabin, continues to resonate in intellectual circles. In the latest issue of Ortaklaşa magazine, writer Asaf Güven Aksel critiqued Kalın's philosophical approach from a Marxist perspective in his article titled "The MIT Chief's path falling to Heidegger."

Aksel drew attention to the angular difference between Heidegger's philosophy and the messages Kalın conveys in the book. Starting from Engels' quotes on Marx and Feuerbach, the author questioned Kalın's pose in front of the hut and his intellectual stance.

"A journey continuing while arrived"

Focusing on the word "Journey" in the book's title, Aksel examined why a physically realized visit is still defined as a journey. Aksel stated, "A hut photographed in front of has been visited as an entity. But if associations like non-arrival and mentality are loaded onto 'Journey,' then contemplation about it is also a right."

Referring to the sections where Kalın stated he sought an answer to the question "What is Being" during his visit in 2019, Aksel criticized Kalın's approach to Heidegger's thesis of "existing without fighting nature."

The concept of God and "The Rake and the Rosary"

One of the most striking parts of the article was the relationship between Heidegger's phrase "Only a God can save us" and Kalın's Islamic philosophy. Aksel argued that the concept of God Heidegger referred to was a reaction to the soullessness of the modern world, but Kalın's attempt to overlap this concept with his own belief world created a "philosophical incompatibility."

Aksel symbolically compared the rosary in Kalın's hand with the rake in Heidegger's hand: "The rake is a tool of intervention, of changing the environment. The rosary is a 'circular experience,' it is submission. Kalın looks and sees that the Being he found in the rosary bead has no imam, and its essence is being turned with a clatter in another hand."

The question of 1933 and 2018

Reminding of the discussions regarding Heidegger joining the Nazi party in 1933 and his rectorship process, Aksel also alluded to Kalın's political position. Adapting the question "What happened in 1933, Professor?" directed at Heidegger to the present day, Aksel concluded his article with the question, "Marx said praxis, that's why it was asked, what happened in 2018, Professor? In 2023?"

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