Ayşe Bayram
Ayşe Bayram graduated from the Department of Sociology at Selçuk University. He took the pedagogical formation in the field of philosophy at the University of Ankara. In addition, she has a postgraduate degree in Social Policy at Yalova University. Her thesis on “The Women Problem and its Politics in Turkey”. She has participated the field research on Syrian Women Refugees and conducted interviews in 2014 with Syrian refugee women which were residing out of shelters as part of “The Report of Syrian Women Refugees” for the MAZLUMDER (Human Rights Organization). She worked on the "Immigration Services Centre" project of Keçiören Municipality (Ankara), supported by IOM (International Organization for Migration), in order to make public services effective for the integration of immigrants. She is currently working as a sociologist at the Department on Rural Women and Family Services in the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. She is working on the organization of women in rural areas and the strengthening of their socio-economic status.
Ayşem Biriz Karaçay
Ayşem Biriz Karaçay is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Istanbul Ticaret University. Before joining Istanbul Ticaret University, she was a Senior Research Associate at the Migration Research Centre, Koç University, Istanbul. In 2012-2013, she was a visiting fellow at University of Oxford. She received her BA and MA in International Relations from Bilkent University. Her PhD on Turkish-Russian migratory system isfrom Marmara University. She has published extensively on international migration within Turkey.
Besim Can Zırh
Besim Can Zırh is an Assistant Professor of Social Anthropology at the Middle East Technical University (Ankara), Sociology Department. He received his PhD from UCL Social Anthropology Department in 2012 and previous graduated from Political Sciences (MSc) in 2005 and Sociology (BA) in 2002 – METU. Dr. Zırh has been working on migration since his graduate years and participated in various national/international research projects on the issue. His PhD was on transnational social networks established by Alevi immigrants in-between Turkey and Europe. Dr. Zırh conducted multi-sited research including Alevi associations in London, Oslo and Berlin to conclude his PhD study. Since 2013 Fall Semester, he has been teaching at METU.
Bürge Elvan Erginli
Bürge Elvan Erginli graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Department of Urban and Regional Planning in 2007 and received her master’s degree from the same university’s Regional Planning Programme in 2010. She worked as a researcher in the Social and Economic Geography section of the urban exhibition “Istanbul 1910-2010”, which was opened within the framework of 2010 European Capital of Culture at Santral Istanbul. Between 2012-2015, she worked at Istanbul Şehir University, Centre for Urban Studies as a researcher and participated in studies on Internal Migration in Turkey, electoral geography, Turkish family structure. She completed her doctoral studies at ITU in 2017 on “Migrants’ local and non-local social networks”.
Cansu Akbaş Demirel
Cansu Akbaş Demirel is a post-doc researcher at nccr “on the move” Project, University of Neuchâtel. She graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science, Department of International Relations and after her graduation she started to work voluntarily at Association for Solidarity with Refugees (Mülteci-Der). She worked as a research assistant at Ege University, Department of International Relations between 2011-2017 where she received her MA and PhD. During her MA, she carried on her studies at Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (Compas) at the University of Oxford. Between 2017-2021 she worked at HRFT Academy which was held under Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT). Her thesis title was: Civil Society Actors Operating in the Field of Migration and Asylum: A Network Approach. She has conducted researches on refugees in Turkey, migration and human rights, the relationship between civil society and refugees’ access to rights; has published related to these issues.
Deniz Ş. Sert
Deniz S. Sert is Professor at the Department of International Relations, Ozyegin University, Istanbul. Before joining OzU, she was a Senior Research Associate at the Migration Research Center, Koç University, Istanbul. An expert on migration issues in Turkey and globally, she has taught and researched at several institutions domestically and abroad. She received her BA in International Relations from Koç University, an MSc in European Union Policy Making from the London School of Economics, and an MPhil in Political Science from the City University of New York. She gained her PhD in Comparative Politics from the City University of New York; her thesis title was: The Property Rights of Conflict-Induced Internally Displaced People: Ideals, Realities, Lessons. She has published extensively on international migration within Turkey and its regions in journals such as International Migration, Journal of Refugee Studies, New Perspectives on Turkey, Ethnopolitics; and contributed in many edited volumes on related subjects.
Derya Ozkul
Derya Ozkul is a research officer at the University of Oxford, Department of International Development, Refugee Studies Centre. She is currently working as part of an ERC-funded grant on Recognising Refugees and leads the research in Turkey and Lebanon. In the context of this project, Dr Ozkul is studying the norms and institutions that inform the procedures to recognise refugees in different countries and mobility restrictions that migrants and refugees face. Dr Ozkul has recently been awarded the John Fell Fund by the University of Oxford. As an independent Principal Investigator in this project, she works on the governance of AI-based technologies in migration management. For this research, she is studying the relevant existing legislation and data sharing practices among NGOs, governments and the UN Agencies. Derya previously worked at the University of Sydney, School of Social and Political Sciences as a tutor, sessional lecturer and a research assistant, where she also completed her doctoral dissertation. Throughout her doctoral thesis, Derya worked on her independent doctoral research and worked part-time on a five-year Australian Research Council-funded research project. In this project, together with an interdisciplinary team, she explored the changes in social policies and their relationship to migration patterns in Australia, Turkey, Mexico and South Korea. She has published widely in many areas related to migration and displacement. See her list of publications at ResearchGate or Google Scholar.
Didem Danış
Didem Danış is a sociologist whose teaching and research activities evolve around the topics related to migrations in Turkey for the last 15 years. She is associate professor at Galatasaray University, Sociology Department. She holds BA degrees in Political Science and Sociology from Boğaziçi University and MA in Sociology from METU. She stayed at IMER (International Migration and Ethnic Relations Program) in Malmö University as a visiting Ph.D. in 2002-2003. She completed her doctoral thesis at EHESS (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 2008) in Paris. This thesis was devoted to the analysis of Iraqi transit migrants and refugees’ social networks in Istanbul. Didem Danis has also extensive experience of teaching and research collaborations in Europe and the Middle East. Didem Danış’s research interests on international migrations concentrates on state-migrant relationships, migration politics, migrants’ social networks, transnationalism, interactions between the cities and the migrants and mechanisms of hospitability. She has published various articles and co-edited two books in Turkish on migration issues: "Borders and Expulsion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Foreigners, Migration and State" (co-edited with I. Soysuren, Notabene, 2014); “Beyond the Integration: Turkish Immigration in France” (co-edited with V. İrtiş, İstanbul Bilgi University Press, 2008). She is the founder and director of the Association for Migration Research.
Esra Demirkol Colosio
Esra Demirkol Colosio is a lecturer at the Çankırı Karatekin University, Sociology Department. She graduated from Sociology (BA) (METU) in 2009 and Social Anthropology (MSc) (METU) in 2011. She received her PhD from the University of Sussex, Sociology Department in 2020. Her PhD was on transnational familyhood constructed by Turkish immigrants in Japan and their stayed-behind families in Turkey. She worked as an assistant/interviewer in fieldworks of several projects during her studies, and volunteered with various charities both in Turkey and the UK.
Gülay Uğur Göksel
Gülay Uğur Göksel is an Assistant Professor at the department of International Relations in Istanbul Bilgi University. Dr. Göksel has completed her Ph.D. degree from University of Colorado at Boulder, USA. Her research interests are immigration, multiculturalism and critical theory. She has a manuscript entitled Integration of Immigrants and the Theory of Recognition: Just Integration (2017. Palgrave Macmillan-International Political Theory Series).
İlhan Zeynep Karakılıç
İlhan Zeynep Karakılıç currently works in Department of Sociology at Bahçeşehir University. She completed her PhD dissertation titled “Transformation in Habitus in an Exchangee Village in the Black Sea Region of Turkey” in Department of Sociology, at Middle East Technical University in 2015. She received her MS degree from the same department in 2007 after gained her BA degree in Department of Economics, at Gazi University. She is a qualitative researcher and an expert on areas such as immigration, forced migration, social memory and sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. She has extensive field experience including in-depth interviews and participant observation in both rural and urban settings in addition to experience in theoretical research.
İlke Şanlıer Yüksel
İlke Şanlıer Yüksel is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communications at Çukurova University. She has previously worked as a research fellow in the Migration Research Centre at Koç University and as an assistant professor at Doğuş University in Istanbul. She got her BA degree from Sociology Department at Boğaziçi University and a PhD degree from Communication program at Anadolu University. Her research mainly focuses on the sociology of migration. She works on representations of migrants in mainstream media and media’s role in diasporic cultures. She is also interested in transnational politics through mediated settings, visual culture and media ethnography. She has a long experience of field research and ethnographic research on migrants. She served as a researcher for “Transnational Migration in Transition: Transformative Characteristics of Temporary Mobility of People (EURA-NET)” (EU FP7) project for the Turkish team. Her current project deals with Syrian refugees and their media practices.
K. Onur Unutulmaz
K. Onur Unutulmaz is a Lecturer in International Relations at the Social Sciences University of Ankara. His areas of expertise include international migration, integration of immigrants, migrant education policies, and diasporas and transnationalism. He has received his Master degree in Migration Studies and doctorate in Anthropology, both from the University of Oxford, in 2009 and 2014, respectively. Dr. Unutulmaz has written extensively on the issues of migration and migrant integration. One of his most recent publications, Turkey’s Syrians: Today and Tomorrow, is one of the pioneering academic books in English on the subject. His previous co-authored book, Little Turkey in Great Britain, is one of the most comprehensive reviews of Turkish-speaking migrant communities in the UK. He also has an extensive experience in large-scale international and national research projects, which include the Horizon 2020 Project “Adult Education as a Means to Active Participatory Citizenship (EduMAP)”, 2016-2019; “Global Muslim Diaspora: Muslim communities located in “non-Muslim” countries”, 2016-2018, which was funded by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), Organization of Islamic Cooperation; and, “Assisting Turkey in Developing a National Integration Policy”, 2016-2017, which was carried out by International Organization for Migration (IOM) Turkey Office and Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management.
Kristen Sarah Biehl
Kristen Sarah Biehl works as a faculty member researcher at Sabanci University Gender and Women’s Studies Center of Excellence (SU Gender). She holds a BA in Social Anthropology and Development Studies from SOAS (2005), MA in Sociology from Bogazici University (2008) and D.Phil in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Oxford (2018). Since 2006 she has been involved both academically and professionally in intensive research within the migration and asylum field in Turkey, having worked closely with a wide range of international, national and local actors and different migrant and refugee communities. Her research centers on ethnographies of migration, diversification and urban change, governing effects of migration and asylum policy frameworks, and gendered impacts of migration. In recent years she has also been exploring intersections of gender, ecological movements and climate change, including her current research exploring how civil society in Turkey working in the fields of migration and environment incorporate gendered approaches into their work and organizational culture.
Lülüfer Körükmez
Lülüfer Körükmez is a PhD and working in Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT) Izmir branch. Before joining HRFT, she was an Assistant Professor at Ege University, Izmir until her dismissal by an emergency decree on January 2017. she gave migration sociology, and international migration and gender courses at undergraduate and graduate levels. She gained her Ph.D. in sociology from Ege University, Izmir; her thesis title was Transnational Migration Networks and Building of Social Fields: A Sociological Research on Labour Migration from Armenia to Turkey. She has published on migration within Turkey and its regions.
Meriç Çağlar
Meriç Çağlar is a PhD candidate (a.b.d) in Gender Studies at Central European University. She completed her MAs at Rovira i Virgili (Euro-Mediterranean Relations) and Pompeu Fabra (Migration Management) Universities in Spain. She worked as a gender and forced migration researcher and consultant with academic and international organizations. Currently, she is working on her PhD project ‘Gendered Vulnerabilities, Precarities and Temporalities: Refugee Women Under International Protection in Turkey”. Her research interests lie in the area of; gender and asylum, intersectionality in migration studies, refugee protection and integration in Turkey, migrant deservingness.
Mert Koçak
Mert Koçak is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Central European University. He is currently a scholar affiliate at the University of Vienna and an associated PhD Student at Centre Français de Recherche en Sciences Sociales, Prague. He was a fellow at New Europe College, Bucharest and a non-resident fellow at Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Vienna. He holds an MSc degree in Human Rights from London School of Economics and Political Science and an MA degree in Gender Studies from Central European University. His research interests are transnational migration studies, migration industries, queer migration studies and anthropology of policy and bureaucracy.
Neva Övünç Öztürk
Neva Övünç Öztürk is a graduate of Ankara University Faculty of Law. She obtained her LL.M and PhD from Ankara University Social Sciences Institute. Her Ph.D. thesis addressed “Refugee Status Determination within the Framework of International Protection” and currently remains the only empirical study undertaken to critically evaluate the status determination process in Turkey through a comparative law perspective. Dr. Öztürk conducted a significant part of her doctorate studies at Queen Mary, University of London as a Jean Monnet scholar. She has presented papers in several international scholarly conferences and has provided trainings for various NGOs, international organizations as well as national institutions. She has taught immigration and asylum law in Ankara University Faculty of Law and Middle East Technical University. Her publications and research mainly focus on refugee law and she has been an academic member of the Private International Law Department at Ankara University Faculty of Law since 2007.
Omar Kadkoy
Omar Kadkoy works on migration, especially on the socio-economic dynamics of the forcibly displaced populations. His research focuses on the labor market integration of Syrian refugees in Turkey, Syrian entrepreneurship in Turkey as well as the Turkish policy framework regarding refugees and the evaluation of subsequent legal adjustments. Currently, he is pursuing his MA in International Relations at the Middle East Technical University (METU). He holds a BA in Business Administration from International University for Science and Technology (Damascus, Syria - 2010). Omar Kadkoy has been working at TEPAV since August 2014.
Orçun Ulusoy
Orçun Ulusoy studied law at Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir, Turkey. As a lawyer he worked on human rights related cases with a focus on asylum and migration. He was a founding member of the Association for Solidarity with Refugees in Izmir and of ‘Kayiki’, a network of Turkish and Greek human rights activists, researchers and lawyers working on asylum and migration issues. Since 2012, he is working at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands as a researcher. He is involved in several research projects focusing on migrant deaths at the borders, EU and Turkish migration policies and externalization of EU migration policies.
Polat S. Alpman
Polat S. Alpman is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Work, Yalova University. He was born İstanbul, Turkey. He holds a master's degree and a doctorate in Sociology from Ankara University. His main areas of interest are the state, class, social inequality, discrimination, migration, citizenship and urban issues. Alpman, in addition to several book chapters and articles, published his book titled Esmer Yakalılar: Kent, Sınıf, Kimlik ve Kürt Emeği (Dark Collar: Urban, Class, Identity and Kurdish Labour) with İletişim Publishing in 2016.
Selin Altunkaynak Vodina
Selin Altunkaynak Vodina is a PhD Candidate in Humanistic Studies at Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, Spain. For her PhD thesis, she is currently conducting research analysing the Dynamics of the relations between Syrian and Turkish Women in the South-East Region of Turkey from a gender perspective within the migration context. She holds a MA degree on the EuroMediterranean Relations specializing on Immigration Management after successfully finishing the joint programme conducted by Rovira i Virgili University-Tarragona and Pompeu Fabra University-Barcelona. She graduated from the Department of Political Science in Galatasaray University, Istanbul, and speaks English, Spanish, French and Turkish. She has experience in working in various aspects of the refugee field including protection and durable solutions, both from an academic and NGO perspective, as she assumed different responsibilities and served in positions within humanitarian organizations in Turkey since 2015.
Sibel Karadağ
Sibel Karadağ is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Migration Research Center at Koç University (MiReKoc). Concurrently, she is a lecturer in International Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University. She completed her doctoral research in Political Science and International Relations at Koç University in 2020 with the dissertation titled “Monitoring Migration, Governing Borders in the Aegean Sea: An Ethnographic Study of Practices, Subjectivities and Narratives”. In 2018-2019, she was a Fulbright Fellow in Political Science at Yale University. Her research interests lie mainly in critical security and border studies, migration and mobility, politics of humanitarianism, globalization and transnationalism, sovereignty and citizenship, and social and political theory. She has presented her work at universities in the USA, UK, Germany, Greece and Spain as well as at international conferences such as the International Studies Association (ISA) and the European International Studies Association (EISA). She published on borders, securitization, mobility and humanitarianism in journals such as Geopolitics, Turkish Studies, Comparative Migration Studies and Toplum ve Bilim. She received her BA in Social and Political Science and MA in European Studies from Sabancı University; and an M.Sc. in Social Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) with the Jean Monnet Scholarship.