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Muhittin Ataman
mataman@setav.org Twitter

Muhittin Ataman

Director, Foreign Policy & Editor-in-chief, Insight Turkey
Prof. Ataman graduated from the Faculty of Political Science in the Department of International Relations at Ankara University. Ataman earned his MA at Central Oklahoma University, and PhD at University of Kentucky between 1996 and 1999. He worked as an RA and a faculty member afterwards in the Department of International Relations at Abant İzzet Baysal University from 1993 until 2014. Ataman is currently a faculty member at the Faculty of Political Science in the Department of International Relations at Social Sciences University of Ankara. Prof. Ataman worked at SETA for three years as a part-time researcher in Foreign Policy Research Department. Currently, he serves as SETA's Director of Foreign Policy Studies and conducts academic research on Turkish foreign policy, the Middle East politics and the Gulf politics. Ataman is also the Editor-in-Chief of Insight Turkey, a journal published by SETA Foundation.

Directors

  • Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman deplanes upon arriving at the airport in New Delhi, Feb. 19, 2019. (AFP Photo)
    Opinion
    Saudi Arabia has been in the news for the last several weeks due to recent economic and political developments in the kingdom. If the government does not control the pace of the developments, it will be quite difficult to maintain social, economic and political stability. The ailing King Mohammad bin Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) took some seemingly significant but high-stake gambles in the last few weeks.
  • Migrants gather in a field at the Maritsa river near Edirne, at the Turkish-Greek border, March 3, 2020. (AP Photo)
    Opinion
    Turkey has been the main supporter of the Syrian opposition fighting the Bashar Assad regime. Ankara has also diligently protected innocent Syrian civilians living in the Idlib region. It has stood against the atrocities, the Assad regime attacks and the regime's main backers Russia and Iran. On one hand, Turkey has mobilized its deterrent military power in the region against the regime’s future attacks; on the other hand, Turkish officials and civil institutions initiated a campaign to provide food and shelter for civilians. Western countries have been reluctant to get involved in the humanitarian tragedy and security problem in the region.
  • An internally displaced Syrian girl stands in a makeshift camp located in Idlib, Syria, Feb. 27, 2020. (REUTERS Photo)
    Opinion
    It is distressing to witness the lack of European concern about the humanitarian disaster in Idlib and how Turkey has been abandoned in its fight for civilian safety
  • A woman wearing a face mask crosses a street in Beijing, Feb. 25, 2020. (AFP Photo)
    Opinion
    The concept of human security has emerged as an essential paradigm for understanding global vulnerabilities as part of a shift that goes beyond traditional security concerns. According to this paradigm, the main focus of security should be human beings rather than political entities such as states and proposes a multidisciplinary understanding of security covering many fields, such as international relations, strategic studies, human rights and development studies.
  • A drone photo shows a view of Syrian civilians' convoy, who are being forcibly displaced due to the ongoing attacks carried out by Assad regime, Russia and Iran-backed groups, and are on their way to safer zones with their belongings near Turkish border, in Idlib, Syria on February 5, 2020. The ongoing attacks by Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and its allies forced civilians to flee their homes in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria. Around 150.000 more civilians have left their homes in Idlib de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria over the last days due to attacks by regime forces and their allies.
    Opinion
    The Syrian crisis is one of the best examples of this approach. The Bashar Assad regime has killed more than half a million innocent civilians by using prohibited weapons of mass destruction, including barrel bombs and chemical weapons..