Tacan İldem
Chairman, EDAM
Ambassador (R) Tacan Ildem, a member of NATO Experts Group that presented a report entitled “NATO 2030: United for a New Era”, is a senior Turkish diplomat. Since the start of his long career in 1978 till February 2021 he held bilateral and multilateral positions including NATO Assistant Secretary General between 2016 to 2020. He served as the Turkish Ambassador to the Netherlands and Permanent Representative to NATO and the OSCE. He also served as Director General for International Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chief of Cabinet, Principal Foreign Policy Advisor and Spokesperson of the President of the Republic. His postings abroad also include those at the Embassies in Washington DC, Athens and New Delhi. Ambassador Ildem is a graduate of Ankara University Faculty of Political Science. He is a recipient of the decoration of Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity and the Medal of Gratitude of Albania.
Sinan Ülgen
Director, EDAM
Sinan Ülgen graduated in 1987 from the University of Virginia with a double major in computer sciences and economics. He undertook graduate studies at the College of Europe in Brugge, Belgium where he received, in 1990, a masters degree in European economic integration. He then joined the Turkish Foreign Service as a career diplomat. In 1992, he was posted to the Turkish Permanent Delegation to the European Union in Brussels where he became part of the team that negotiated the Turkey-EU customs union.
Ulgen is the founder and managing partner of Istanbul Economics. The consultancy specializes in market entry strategies for international companies, political and economic risk analysis related to Turkey and regulatory affairs.
Ulgen is also the director of the Istanbul based think tank, Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM) and a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels. His research and opinion pieces have been published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Center for European Policy Studies, Center for European Reform, the Atlantic Council, German Marshall Fund, Brookings and the World Economic Forum as well as newspapers such as Le Figaro, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, European Voice, Project Syndicate and the International New York Times. He is also the co-author of a book on Turkey-EU relations with Kemal Dervis and a frequent commentator on Turkish affairs in the international press. Ulgen served on the academic advisory board member of the NATO Defence College in Rome. He was a member of the Europe Council of the World Economic Forum. He was also a member of the international policy experts group set up by the NATO Secretary General Rasmussen.
MiTHAT ÖZBEK
Managing Partner, Istanbul Economy
Mithat Özbek graduated in 1988 from the economics department of the Hacettepe University in Ankara. He then attended the University of Indiana and received his MBA in 2000 from the joint program of the Istanbul Technical University and Exeter University. He started his professional career at Sogut ceramics in the export department of the company. He became a Deputy Director General at Puccinelli, a company operating in the food and beverage industry and then the managing director of the UK based paper and packaging company David S. Smith in Turkey. He worked for 10 years for David S. Smith in this capacity. Following the acquisition of the local branch of the company by Sabanci/International Paper owned Olmuksa, he joined the senior management of Olmuksa. He is a member of several NGOs. He is the managing partner of Istanbul Ekonomi.
ASLI AYDINTAŞBAŞ
Senior Policy Fellow at European Council on Foreign Affairs
Asli Aydıntaşbaş is Senior Policy Fellow at European Council on Foreign Affairs, where she primarily works on Turkish foreign policy and external ramifications of its domestic politics. She has joined ECFR after a lengthy career in journalism, which last included being a columnist at Milliyet (2009-2015) and a commentator on regional issues in international publications and networks. In particular, Ms Aydintasbas has used her columns to delve into issues in Turkish foreign policy vis a vis the Middle East but also to probe issues around freedoms and democratization in Turkey. She has written on these issues for publications including the International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Politico.com and Newsweek. Ms Aydıntaşbaş has hosted a popular daily show, Karşı Gündem on CNN Turk during 2013-2014. Prior to joining Milliyet, she has served as a Washington correspondent and later the Ankara bureau chief for Sabah, one of Turkey’s leading newspapers. She covered the Clinton Administration, the United Nations, the Bush Administration, and the Iraq War in 1997-2004 as a Washington and New York correspondent for NTV and Radikal. Ms Aydıntaşbaş is a graduate of Bates College, where she was the recipient of Maung Maung Gyi Award for Excellence in International Relations and holds an MA in Journalism and Middle East Studies from New York University.
CAN SELÇUKİ
General Manager and Member of the Executive Board, Istanbul Economics Research
Can Selçuki holds a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from the Bilkent University and an MSc degree in Economics from University Bocconi. Currently, he works as the General Manager of Istanbul Economics Research which is a market research and online big data analytics company based in Istanbul. Before, Can worked as an economist at the World Bank Ankara Office for 4 years working both with the public and private partners in private sector development. His work at the World Bank focused on regional development, competition and innovation policies. Prior to working at the World Bank, Can worked as an economics researcher at the Brussels based think tank the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) for three years. He is the author of papers and reports on trade competitiveness, regional development and innovation policy in Turkey.
URAL AKÜZÜM
Head of Banking and Finance Department, Bilgi University
Ural Aküzüm attended Galatasaray High School, Montpellier University in France and Marmara University Department of Law. Having completed his doctorate in Public Law, he continues his academic career as the President of the Bilgi University School of Advanced Vocational Studies Banking and Finance Department and as Assistant Professor. He has published three books and numerous academic and non-academic papers. Mr Aküzüm is a lawyer of the Bar of İstanbul and possesses a certificate of a notary from the Ministry of Justice aside from being a registered mediator for the ministry. He is also a deputy of the brand, industrial design and patents for the Turkish Patent Institute. He is continuing his 15 years of law practice and consultancy career from his self-owned law firm in the fields of foreign investment, administrative law, investment and construction arbitration. In the civil society field, Mr Aküzüm takes part in business organizations, namely since 2015 he has been serving as vice president at TEBC (Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation). He continues duties as a member of the audit committee at AmCham Turkey, as a member of FERB and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Turkish-Azerbaijani Friendship Foundation as well. Mr Aküzüm has served in the Bilgi University founding foundation for 10 years as the Chairman of the Board of Directors and a trustee.
DİLEK YARDIM
Ms. Yardım has BA degree from Bogazici Universitesi and holds an MBA degree from the joint program of Manchester Business School and University of Bangor. She has completed various executive education programs at Harvard Business School and Insead.
During her career she was active in various NGO’s including TUSIAD, YASED, American-Turkish Council (ATC), Deutsch-Turkische Industrie und Handelskammer (AHK) and the British Chamber of Commerce of Turkey (BCCT).
CANSU ÇAMLIBEL
MELTEM MÜFTÜLER-BAÇ
Meltem Müftüler-Baç is currently Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Professor of International Relations and Jean Monnet Chair ad personam at Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. She received her B.A in Political Science from Boğazici University in 1988, MA and Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from Temple University, the USA in 1989 and 1992, respectively. She became assistant professor in 1992, associate professor in 1996 and professor in 2005. Before joining Sabancı University in February 2002, she taught at Bilkent University from 1992 to February 2002 as Assistant and Associate Professor, where she was also the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Bilkent University between 2000 and 2002. She worked previously at Temple University (USA), Bilkent University (Turkey), and was a Visiting professor at the University of Chicago, and an Affiliate Professor at University of Stockholm (2013-2016), a Visiting Scholar and Affiliate Faculty at the Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania (2019-2020). At Sabanci University, Professor Müftüler-Baç coordinated the Social and Political Studies undergraduate program from 2002 to 2011, established the master’s program in European Studies and coordinated it from 2004 to 2014, and established and coordinated the BA program in International Studies from 2011 to 2014.
Prof. Müftüler-Baç has authored multiple academic books, Turkey’s Relations with a Changing Europe published by the Manchester University Press in 1997, Divergent Pathways: Turkey and the European Union published by Barbara Budrich in 2016, and co-edited Turkey and the European Union Relations: Dilemmas, Opportunities and Constraints, with Yannis Stivachtis, Lexington books in 2008, and Parliamentary Cooperation and Diplomacy in EU External Relations with Jan Wouters and Kolja Raube, in 2019. Her publications appeared in Journal of European Public Policy, Middle Eastern Studies, East European Quarterly, Journal of European Integration, South East European Politics and Society, Security Dialogue, International Studies Perspectives, Turkish Studies, Women’s Studies International Forum, West European Politics, International Journal, Journal of Democracy, Journal of Language and Politics, Asia-Europe Journal, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, European Journal of Women’s Studies, East European Politics. Her work has been supported by the EU’s research programs consistently. She participated in the F6 project ‘Reconstituting Democracy in Europe’ from 2006 to 2012, FP7 project ‘TRANSWORLD’ for 2012-2015, and FP7 project ‘MAXCAP’ for 2013-2016. She is participating currently in two H2020 projects; InDivEU-Integrating Diversity in the EU 2019-2022, and MAGYC- Migration and Asylum Governance 2018-2022. In 2011, she received a grant for a Jean Monnet Center of Excellence from the European Commission. Her work is widely cited in Turkey-European Union relations, on EU enlargement, Turkish foreign policy and Turkish politics.
Prof. Müftüler-Baç holds two prestigious awards from the Turkish Academy of Sciences: Young Social Scientist Investigator Award in 2002 and Distinguished Young Scientist Award in 2003. She was awarded with the Jean Monnet Professor ad personam title from the European Commission in 2004. Her research and academic outputs could be reached at her website: http://myweb.sabanciuniv.edu/muftuler, ResearchGate and her Google Scholar page.
HANDE KARAKÜLAH
Born in 1978, Hande Karakulah is a graduate of Ankara Atatürk Anatolian High School and Istanbul University Faculty of Law. Having completed her master’s degree in European Union Law, Hande started her legal career in 2001 at Şanver & Esin Law Firm. Later, he worked as a freelance attorney at ADMD Law Firm, of which he was a partner, and as a legal consultant in British American Tobacco Turkey, and then worked as the Chief Legal Counsel in Turkey, Middle East and Africa region of Natura&Co, of which Avon is also a part, for 10 years. Hande is currently working as the Legal and Scientific Director of L’Oreal Turkey.
The civil society adventure that started with the Young Lawyers Club experience that Hande founded with her student friends at the university has continued over the years in many non-governmental organizations, in different levels and roles. Membership and Vice President of the Young Arı formation within the Arı Movement paved the way for the role of Secretary General in the Economy and Foreign Policy (EDP) Forum founded by Kemal Derviş, thus having the opportunity to work for Turkey’s European Union ideal.
She is still a member of the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies and the Transparency Association, and a volunteer of the Bir Adım Var Foundation.Also being the founding member of the SES Equality and Solidarity Association and a member of the Board of Directors, Hande strives to be a supporter of all kinds of progressive, civic initiatives, especially those related to women, just as she strives to be a good mother to Alp and a good companion to all her loved ones.
ARDA BATU
Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation, Secretary General
Arda Batu completed his high school education at The Browning High School, he then studied Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University. He completed his internship at the European Parliament and attained his MA degree from Marmara University European Studies Institute. His career began in 2004 at Yeditepe University’s Political Science& International Relations Department where he served as a research assistant. He transitioned to the corporate sector with HB Consultancy Group in 2007 whilst continuing his professional affiliation with the university. His keen interests in government relations and strategic communications led him to London-based consultancy, Aleph Consulting in 2010, and then to Istanbul-based regional corporate communications firm, StratejiCo in 2012. Arda was appointed as secretary-general to Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TURKONFED) in June 2014. He has been serving on the editorial board of Turkish Policy Quarterly, a journal on international affairs, since 2009.
ÖZGEHAN ŞENYUVA
Şenyuva is an Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations at the Middle East Technical University (METU) and a research associate at the Center for European Studies. Dr. Şenyuva completed his PhD in Political Science at Center for the Study of Political Change (Circap) at Universita Degli Studi di Siena, Italy in 2006 with his dissertation titled “Turkish Public Opinion and the European Union: Determinants of Turkish Public Support for European Union Membership” under the supervision of Prof. Pierangelo Isernia. He has two Master’s Degrees, from Universita Degli Studi di Siena in 2003 and from Department of International Relations, METU in 2002. He holds his Bachelor’s Degree from METU Department of Political Science and Public Administration in 1999.
His research interests are public opinion studies, EU enlargement and integration, Turkey-European relations, Turkey’s membership to the EU, research methodologies and measurement, politics of European football, and youth work. He has been working in several research projects as both coordinator and researcher. He was recently the METU coordinator of the Horizon2020 project of “FEUTURE – The Future of EU-Turkey Relations: Mapping Dynamics and Testing Scenarios”. Among his previous projects there are many European Commission-funded projects such as “FREE – Football Research in an Enlarged Europe” (FP-7 SSH) in which he was a steering group member and Work Package leader.
AHMET KASIM HAN
Faculty Member, İstanbul Aydın University
Prof Ahmet K. Han is with the faculty of International Relations at İstanbul Aydın University in Istanbul. His research interests are strategic thinking, negotiations and foreign policy analysis. Prof Han holds a B.A. in economics and international relations, an MA on political history and a Ph. D. on international relations from the Istanbul University and has studied negotiations in Harvard. He has been awarded a “Young Leaders of Europe” grant on U.S. Foreign policy by the Department of State of the U.S.A. and has been an observer for NATO on the state of the NATO/ ISAF Operation in Afghanistan twice, in 2005 and 2011. He has published extensively on Afghanistan, geo-strategy of energy politics, US Foreign Policy and Turkish foreign policy. Prof Han has worked as a columnist in Turkish dailies Radikal and Referans. He is also the chief editorial advisor of the Turkish edition of the New Perspectives Quarterly. Prof Han has extensive experience as an adviser and consultant to the private sector in the field of strategic business development and negotiations. He has also served as the International Relations Advisor for Turkish Exporters Assembly, the umbrella organization of Turkey’s exporting industries between 2003 – 2006. He has lectured for and held academic posts in Istanbul University, Bilgi University, İstanbul Commerce University, Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) War Academy (Staff College) and Air Force War College. From 2005 to 2008. Prof Han was responsible for structuring and teaching of the “International Negotiation Strategies” course module for TAF, a must course for all senior officers assigned to international military postings including NATO. He has also served as a visiting scholar in the University of St. Andrews’s Center for Syrian Studies in Scotland in 2011.
EMEL PARLAR DAL
Emel Parlar Dal is full professor at Marmara University’s Department of International Relations. She received her BA from Galatasaray University in 2001, her MA degrees respectively from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (2002) and Paris 3 Nouvelle Sorbonne Universities.(2003) She received her PhD degree on International Relations from Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle University. (2009) She conducted research at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva during the 2010-2011 academic year thanks to Swiss Government scholarship. In 2013 she was an academic visitor at St. Anthony’s College Middle East Centre, Oxford University. During 2015-2016 she worked as the coordinator of a TUBITAK-SOBAG research project on the contribution of Turkey and the BRICS to global governance. Her recent publications have appeared in Third World Quarterly (SSCI), Global Policy (SSCI), Contemporary Politics, International Politics (SSCI), Turkish Studies (SSCI), International Journal: Canada’s Journal of Global Policy Analysis (SSCI), and Perceptions. Her most recent works are Assessing the Development–Foreign Policy Nexus of the Asian Rising Powers: South Korea, China, Japan and Indonesia, Global Policy, 2021; Middle Powers in Global Governance: The Rise of Turkey ( ed.), Palgrave, 2018; Rising powers in international conflict management, 2019 Special Issue ( guest editor), Third World Quarterly; Status Competition and Rising Powers, 2019 Special Issue ( guest editor), Comtemporary Politics; Russia in the Changing International System ( ed. with Emre Erşen), Palgrave 2019; Turkey’s International Political Economy in the 21st century, ( ed.), Palgrave 2019. She has recently been awarded by the EU Commission Jean Monnet Chair on the EU and Rising Powers in the Evolving Multilateralism for 2020-2023. She also received five different research grants respectively from the Academy of Korean Studies ( 2020-2022) and NATO Public Diplomacy Division ( 2020-2021). She is also project coordinator of Jean Monnet Center of Excellence on the EU’s Sustainability in Global Governance. ( 2022-2025, ERASMUS-LS, EUSUSGOV, N. 101048178)
NİHAT KÖKMEN
Ret. Lt. Gen. Kökmen was born in Eskişehir, Turkey in 1959. After completing his primary school education in Şafaktepe Primary School (Ankara) and high school education in Sincan High School (Ankara), he joined the Turkish Air Force Academy in 1977. He graduated from the Air Force Academy on August 30, 1981.
Ret. Lt. Gen. Kökmen served in a variety of positions at the squadron and wing levels. Most notably, he has served as the commander of the 182nd Squadron, the wing commander of the 6th Main Jet Base, the base commander of the 8th Main Jet Base, the Chief of Personnel Branch at the Headquarters, the Chief of Plan and Policies at the Headquarters, Deputy Commander of the 1st Air Force Command Headquarter, the Air Defense Commander, and the Air Force Chief of Staff.
Throughout his 38 years of service, Ret. Lt. Gen. Kökmen has logged more than 3900 flying hours including over 200 combat hours with different types of aircrafts (F-16, F-104). He has the NATO Medal, the United Nations Medal, and Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Courage and Self-Sacrifice. He is married to Ayşenur Kökmen, and they have two sons and a grandson (Ege).