TPQ Team

Cemile Çetin became the administrative supervisor of the TPQ and joined the board of directors of the Social Participation and Development Foundation in 2009. Cemile became involved in the ARI Movement in 1995 where she worked as an organizer, assistant, office manager, and accountant within the civil society division of the movement until 2008. During her tenure at ARI Movement, she participated in the logistical organization of a number of important projects such as the “Human Rights for Everyone” and “Young Women are Ready for Involvement” programs.

Ayşegül Erdem joined TPQ in March 2019 as the Managing Editor. She graduated from Bilkent International School after completing the  International Baccalaureate Program in 2010. She majored in Business Administration at Istanbul University and completed a master’s degree in International Management at ESADE Business School. She is currently pursuing a modular post-graduate degree at London School of Economics in the field of International Relations. Prior to joining TPQ, Ayşegül worked in international civil society organizations such as Save the Children, mainly focusing on the humanitarian response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

Dr. Zeynep Alemdar is a Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Okan University, Istanbul, where she also heads the European Union Research Center. Her research interests include human rights and civil society issues in Turkey, and Turkey-EU relations. She is also Vice President of the Turkey-EU Association (Turkish Council of the European Movement International), an NGO promoting Turkey’s membership to the EU since 1987, and a member of the Association to Support Women Candidates (KA-DER), an influential women’s NGO working to increase women’s participation in politics. Formerly, she was an EASI-Hurford Next Generation Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing in the role of civil society, democratization, and women’s participation in politics in Turkey. Zeynep joined TPQ as an Editorial Advisor in 2014. Formerly, she was an EASI-Hurford Next Generation Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing in the role of civil society, democratization, and women’s participation in politics in Turkey. Zeynep joined TPQ as an editorial advisor in 2014.

Ali Cihan Sarıkaya is a Media Coordinator at Opel Turkey. Prior to Opel, he was first Associate Editor and then Managing Editor at TPQ. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in International Relations at Galatasaray University. His studies are focused on security issues such as military interventions, energy politics, threats to global security, and the relevance of military organizations. Cihan became an editorial advisor in 2016.

Arda Batu is the Secretary General of Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TURKONFED) since June 2014. Arda also serves on the executive board of Centre for Economics and foreign Policy Studies (EDAM). His career began in 2004 at Yeditepe University’s Political Science and International Relations Department where he served as a research assistant. In 2006, Arda joined the ARI Movement becoming a board member in 2008 for five years before leaving in 2013. He transitioned to the corporate sector with HB Consultancy Group in 2007 whilst continuing his professional affiliation with the university. His keen interests in government relations and strategic communications led him to London-based consultancy, Aleph Consulting in 2010, and then to Istanbul-based regional corporate communications firm, StratejiCo in 2012. Arda has been an editorial advisor for TPQ since 2009.

Fikret Erkut Emcioğlu was the Managing Editor at TPQ from 2012 to 2014 and is currently an Editorial Advisor. After receiving his master’s degree at the University of Paris II - Panthéon–Assas in 1998, he spent seven years as a journalist and narrator at the Turkish Language Department within Radio France Internationale (RFI). Between 2004 and 2006, and in 2011, he carried out various research projects on the social, economic, and legal aspects of EU-Turkey integration at the European Stability Initiative (ESI), a Berlin-based think-tank. Since 2007, he has been the legal adviser for international contracts for the OKAN Group in Turkey.