I am an associate professor of international relations at Middle East Institute, Sakarya University. I am head of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Middle East Institute. I received my PhD in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham. I hold a Masters in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester, and a BA in the School of Political Sciences at Istanbul University.

I am Editor-in-Chief of Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.

My book ‘Peace Processes in Northern Ireland and Turkey: Rethinking Conflict Resolution’ was published by Edinburgh University Press.

My paper ‘Great Effort, Little Help? The Influence of Peace Groups towards Ending Ethno-Nationalist Conflicts’ was awarded the best paper by the International Studies Association’s Ethnicity, Nationalism and Migration Section.

Currently, I am working on two projects. The first project is about the Syrian civil war, which has three aspects. ‘The Proxy Warfare in Syria’ project aims to assess how sub-state and non-state armed groups are used as a tactical tool by regional and international powers in order to shape the war in Syria. ‘Syrian Refugees and Social Integration’ aims to understand the process and outcomes of immigration and forced migration of Syrians. ‘Peacemaking in Syria’ aims to explore how political resolution can be achieved in Syria. The second project is the ‘Backchannel Communication Channels in the Contemporary Conflicts’. In this project, I aim to explore the influence of covert negotiations in five major ethno-nationalist conflicts in the world: the Northern Irish, Turkey’s Kurdish, Spanish, Colombian and Philippines conflicts. 

My PhD project focused on conflict resolution processes towards ending ethno-nationalist conflicts. The research assessed political, non-violent resolution efforts within the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Turkey. The conflict resolution efforts of states, sub-state armed groups and independent third parties have been investigated to reach a comprehensive understanding. My research was funded by the Ministry of National Education, the Republic of Turkey.

You can follow my research updates on Academia, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, ResearchGate and Twitter.