Muhammed Fehmi Cetinkaya holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Koc University, where he also pursued a minor in History and track programs in Diplomacy and International Political Economy. Currently, he is pursuing a master’s degree at Boston University’s Pardee School, specializing in Diplomacy.

His research fields encompass a wide range of topics, including Türkiye-Israel relations, Israel Foreign Policy, Modern History of the Middle East, Public and Digital Diplomacy, and Caribbean-Israel relations. He can speak in Turkish, English and Spanish, and can read Hebrew and Arabic.

He graduated from Koç University in 2024 with a BA in International Relations and Economics and a specialization in Political Economy. He is currently pursuing a Master’s program in European and Nordic Studies at the University of Helsinki. His research interests include Europe and the European Union, the Arctic, New Energy Fields, Diplomacy, Geopolitics, World War I History, Geography and Political Economy. He speaks C1 level English and entry level Finnish.

Aybars Öztuna is a Master’s student in Geo-Spatial Intelligence at Johns Hopkins University. He is originally from Ankara, he is an academic-activist who obtained his undergraduate degree in International Studies from the University of South Florida, with a minor in Intelligence Studies, and completed his Executive Data Science specialization at Johns Hopkins University.

Since 2020, after serving as Presidential Advisor for 3 years, he has been the Chair of the International Relations Commission at the Youth Policy Center of the Iyi Party. He is the author of various books, including “Shedding Light on Politicians,” “Leadership Management,” and “Remembering Yılmaz Öztuna.” His interest in public policy lies in developing policies that involve young leaders in real-world politics. He is a member of Chatham House, the International Political Science Association, the Atlantic Youth Treaty Association, and a Youth Member at the International Republican Institute.

Eren Kotil holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from Bahcesehir University. After his graduation, he went to University of Stirling in Scotland to obtain his pre-master degree in energy studies. Currently, he is pursuing a master’s degree at The Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law & Policy (CEPMLP)& University of Dundee.

During his undergrad, he had the opportunity to do an internship with one of the German MPs in the German Parliament. He started his legal career as a part-time associate at one of the national defense companies in Türkiye. He’s academically interested in Nuclear Law, Energy Transition, Middle Eastern Studies and Environmental Diplomacy. He can speak in Turkish, English and German.

Political Scientist. He completed his undergraduate degree in International Relations at Koç University. He obtained his doctorate in the same field from Northwestern University. His academic interests include the relationship between religion and the state, religion and regimes, religious movements, international relations, and related topics. His broader areas of curiosity include the political, economic, and intellectual evolution of humanity throughout history.

She is studying in the International Relations department at Koç University. His academic interests include Diplomacy, Power in International Relations, Post-Cold War World Politics.

In 2014, she completed his undergraduate education as an honor student at Istanbul University. In 2019, she graduated with high honors, achieving a GPA of 3.95, from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Istanbul Yeni Yüzyıl University.

In 2021, Ortay continued his doctoral studies in Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Yeni Yüzyıl University. Additionally, he works as a faculty member at Ibn Haldun University and Karatay University.

Hiba Bouazza is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Governance at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, specializing in Economic Analysis and Public Policy. She previously obtained her undergraduate degree in Applied Economics from the same university. During her undergraduate studies, she participated in a student exchange program at Koç University. Her areas of interest include International Political Economy, Public Policy, Regional Economics, and Entrepreneurship. Hiba is a native speaker of French and Arabic, and she has an advanced level of proficiency in English and basic knowledge of Turkish.

Joseph Wippl is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. He had a 30-year career as an operations officer in the National Clandestine Service (NCS). Wippl served as an operations officer and operations manager in various locations including Bonn, West Germany; Guatemala City; Luxembourg; Madrid; Mexico; Vienna; and Berlin. During his assignments at CIA headquarters, he held positions such as Deputy Chief of Human Resources, Senior NCS Representative on the Aldrich Ames Damage Assessment Team, Chief of the European Division, and Director of Congressional Affairs for the CIA. Wippl extensively coordinated with other members of the U.S. intelligence community. Prior to joining Boston University, he served as the Richard Helms Intelligence Collection Chair in the NCS training program. Wippl has been teaching at BU since 2006 and speaks and writes extensively on intelligence-related topics.

Marco Amorelli is a graduate student specializing in Security Studies in the field of International Relations at Boston University. Being of Italian origin, Amorelli obtained his undergraduate degree in International Relations from London Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. He is proficient in Italian, English, Spanish, and Arabic. Growing up as a child in Egypt, he developed an increasing interest in the Middle East, particularly in terms of regional security. His areas of interest encompass not only the Middle East but also the role of the United States in the region, the phenomenon of terrorism, and the concept of national security more broadly.

He graduated from Koç University’s International Relations department in 2022. His academic interests include Turkey-EU Relations, Turkish Foreign Policy, Turkish-Greek Relations, Turkish Political History, Turkish Economic Policies, International Negotiations, the Rise-Stagnation-Decline Period of Ottoman History, 7th-century Islamic History, and Sufism (Mysticism).

Rowa Kordi is a senior student in the dual major program of International Relations and Business Administration at Koç University. Currently, she is completing her international relations education as part of an exchange program at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. She is fluent in English, Arabic, and Turkish. With Palestinian roots, Rowa has always been passionate about Middle East politics, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her areas of interest include Political Philosophy, the United States’ Middle East policy, and neo-colonialism.

Selin Yanık Koç is a PhD student at the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on the nexus of media and political behavior, information operations, and election interference.

She received her Bachelor’s Degrees from Cankaya University, double majoring in English Language and Literature, and Political Science and International Relations departments. In her final year, she studied at Valencia University for one semester via the Erasmus Exchange program. She completed International Relations MA program at TOBB Economy and Technology University with a thesis concentrating on media representations of Turkey’s military operations in Syria in 2021. Recently, she graduated from Boston University’s MA in International Affairs – Security Studies program deepening her research further on information operations and election interference.

She can speak Turkish, English and Spanish, and can read French.

Tuncay Guliyev is currently pursuing his undergraduate studies at Koç University. His native language is Azerbaijani, and he is proficient in English and Turkish at an advanced level. Tuncay’s academic interests primarily revolve around Diplomacy, Azerbaijani Foreign Policy, Azerbaijan-Iran relations, Political History of the Caucasus and Iran, and Political Philosophy.

Wen-Yu Hung is a political strategist on Ko Wen-Je’s presidential campaign team in Taiwan. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree, specializing in diplomacy, within the International Affairs department at Boston University Pardee School. His native language is Chinese, and he possesses a high level of proficiency in English. His research focuses on various areas, including human rights in Southeast Asia, Uyghur rights in China, international relations in Southeast Asia, and Taiwanese foreign policy. Due to his dedicated studies on European integration, he has been awarded a research scholarship from the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan.

He published a book called The Pharaoh’s Murders in 2016. His articles have been published in many national and international journals and he has presented papers at various universities.

The Independent writes weekly articles on Ancient History in Turkish, and his areas are generally as follows:

Ancient Israel
Ancient Greek
Ancient Mesopotamia
Ancient Gulf History

Kaan is a senior undergraduate in International Relations and Industrial Engineering at Koç University. In 2023, he participated in Stanford University’s International Honors Program. He is proficient in English. His academic interests focus on genocide studies, UN peacekeeping operations, Eastern Europe, Nordic countries, and Southeastern and Middle Eastern countries.