SETA Security Radar | Turkey’s Security Landscape in 2021

"Dr. Bilgehan Öztürk is a foreign policy researcher, recognized for his expertise in Turkish foreign and security policies, with a specific focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. His diverse research portfolio encompasses areas such as non-state armed actors, civil conflict, countering violent extremism, Turkish-Russian relations, and the dynamics of great power rivalry. Dr. Öztürk holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from the Middle East Institute of Sakarya University and an MA in Middle East and Mediterranean Studies from King's College London. Dr. Öztürk is also a commentator and analyst in the global media landscape. He comments on international affairs, providing insights and perspectives on major news outlets such as CNN International, Al Jazeera, and TRT World. His written analyses and opinion pieces have been featured on prominent platforms including Middle East Eye, The New Arab, TRT World, Politics Today, and Daily Sabah."

She obtained her degree in International Relations from the Middle East Technical University (Ortadoğu Teknik Üniversitesi) and commenced her career as a research assistant at the SETA Foundation in 2014. Presently, she holds the position of project coordinator for the Terrorism Analysis Platform (TAP), a comprehensive database and web portal initiated in 2019, which continues to actively operate. Since 2021, she has been engaged as a researcher at SETA. Notably, she has authored esteemed reports published by SETA, including "The Ascension of Türkiye as a Drone Power: History, Strategy, and Geopolitical Implications","Unpacking the Debate on Turkish Drones" and " Remote Control:Aerial Elimination of the PKK's Terrorist Leaders and Operatives".Her research pursuits predominantly revolve around military technology and strategy, counterterrorism and insurgency, as well as unmanned systems.

Prof. Murat Yeşiltaş completed his BA and MA in International Relations at Sakarya University in 2003 and 2009, respectively. He earned his PhD in Political Science and International Relations from Marmara University in 2012 with a dissertation titled "Locating Turkey: Geopolitical Mentality and the Army in Turkey." Yeşiltaş was a visiting researcher at Lancaster University's Department of European Studies and International Politics (2008-2009) and at Virginia Tech's Institute of Government and International Relations (2010-2011). Currently, he is a faculty member at the Faculty of Political Science, Department of International Relations at the Social Sciences University of Ankara. His research expertise spans geopolitical assessment, military analysis, actor profiling, scenario building, situation analysis, and wargaming simulation, with a particular focus on security studies, intelligence analysis, and strategic foresight. Yeşiltaş has been extensively involved in field research in Syria, Libya, and Iraq, providing on-the-ground insights into regional conflicts, military strategies, and geopolitical transformations. He has also played an active role in think-and-do tank activities, contributing to both academic discourse and policy-oriented research through strategic analysis and scenario planning.

Rıfat Öncel is a PhD student at the Department of International Relations of the Middle East Technical University. His main research interests include defense policy, the armed forces, and emerging military technologies.

He graduated from War College in the field of Management in 1991. He assumed varying tasks and appointments in the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF). He graduated from Master’s (2010) and PhD programs (2017) in the International Relations Department of the Middle Eastern Technical University. He scrutinized the Chinese soft power practices through cultural diffusion efforts and African policy for a Master’s degree. His Ph. D. research was about intelligence and propaganda efforts in peace-oriented undertakings based on the UN and NATO practices in Bosnia and Afghanistan. His studies are primarily on the security and defence studies, the conceptualization of power, intelligence and propaganda practices. He had been commissioned to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bosnia, facilitating the comparison of theory and practice when he was in Service. The primary region he has been interested in is the Middle East; he had monitored wider Afghanistan, Balkans, the USA, and China as the secondary academic effort. He was a faculty member of the Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University of Turkey after teaching as a visiting scholar at Başkent University. He is currently a faculty member at Hasan Kalyoncu University and a Researcher in SETA Foundation. Aslan is the author of the boks - Security Sector Reform for Libya: A Cruical Step Towards State Building, The Crisis of the Hundred Years: Afghanistan, Intelligence and Propaganda: The Cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Afghanistan, other than academic and scholarly articles.