Personal Statement
I joined the Department of Politics at the University of Liverpool as a Lecturer in Politics in September 2019 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2021 and Reader in 2026. Before joining Liverpool, I held academic positions at Bahçeşehir University and İstanbul Kültür University in Turkey, and was a Research Affiliate at Yale University and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I completed my doctoral research on European Union civil society policy and Turkey, and my work has since developed at the intersection of civil society, democratisation, European Union studies, and Turkish politics.

My research examines the role of civil society in democratic governance, civic participation, authoritarianism, Europeanisation, and EU external policies, with a particular focus on Turkey and comparative perspectives. I have published two books and numerous articles in leading international journals, including Third World Quarterly, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Mediterranean Politics, and Social Movement Studies. My recent work explores anti-feminist mobilisation, radicalisation, and evidence-informed policymaking.

I have secured competitive research funding from organisations including the British Academy, the ESRC, Stiftung Mercator, the British Council, and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. I currently lead an impact project on democratic practices within civil society organisations and serve on the Management Committee of the COST Action Science in Diplomacy Network. My research has informed policy development in Turkey and the European Union, including contributions to Turkey's Development Plan, evaluations of EU civil society programmes, and reports for international organisations and policymakers.

My teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate levels and is closely informed by my research. I convene the undergraduate Dissertation module (POLI401) and designed the specialist module Politics of Participation and Civic Space (POLI 354), which combines academic study with a community placement to provide students with practical experience and enhance their employability. I have also convened modules on European Union politics and international relations and supervised undergraduate, master's and doctoral research.

Alongside my teaching and research, I serve as the Department's Research Lead and the School's Research Integrity Lead/Co-Ethics Lead.

My work regularly engages audiences beyond academia through collaborations with civil society organisations, international institutions, and policymakers. I have delivered invited lectures at universities, think tanks, and policy forums across Europe and North America, and my research has been featured in media outlets including the BBC, The Independent, Deutsche Welle, and China Newsweek.

Research Overview
My research explores the relationship between civil society, democracy, and political change, with a particular focus on how civic actors operate within changing political environments. I examine how civil society organisations contribute to democratic participation, how international actors promote democracy, and how political constraints reshape civic activism.

A major part of my research focuses on the European Union’s engagement with civil society and the limits and opportunities of democracy promotion. My monographs, "European Union Civil Society Policy and Turkey: A Bridge Too Far?" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and "EU-Turkey Relations: Civil Society and Depoliticization" (Routledge, 2020), analyse the impact of EU support on civil society development and the complex relationship between external funding, participation, and political agency.

My recent research expands these themes by examining contested civil society, democratic backsliding, and political mobilisation. I have studied post-protest activism in Turkey, the role of NGOs in refugee integration, EU civil society funding in Turkey and Serbia, and the emergence of anti-feminist social networks and far-right mobilisation. My work has been published in journals including Third World Quarterly, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Social Movement Studies, Mediterranean Politics, and Journal of Gender Studies.

I have received research funding from organisations including the British Council, British Academy, ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, Mercator Foundation, and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. My current projects include research on democratic practices within civil society organisations and evidence use in policymaking.

Alongside academic research, I actively engage with policy and public debates. I contributed to Turkey’s Development Plan 2024–2028 by preparing the Special Committee Report on “Civil Society Organisations in the Development Process” and have worked with international organisations, policymakers, and civil society actors on strengthening civic participation and institutional capacity.