The Atlas Contributors
Ali Agcakulu
DirectorDr. Ali Agcakulu is the academic, author and columnist. After he graduated from the Graduate School of Social Sciences at the Yildiz Technical University in 2016, he worked as a Post-doctorate research fellow at The Catholic University of America. He published two books; “The Brief History of Kurdish Nationalism” and “Said Nursi’s Political Theory or The Reform of Islamic Political Thought”. As a journalist, he was a columnist with Rota Haber news website in 2015. He has many academic and semi-academic articles published in various magazines and newspaper. He worked as columnist in the Ahvalnews and Ocak Medya news websites. His expertise is on the history and philosophy of relationships between religion and politics in Turkey.
Ergun Babahan
ContributorErgun Babahan is a Turkish journalist, writer, and editor known for his contributions to Turkish media and his outspoken political views. He was born in 1959 in Turkey. Babahan studied law at Ankara University, which provided him with a strong foundation for his later work in political journalism. Career in Journalism Babahan started his journalism career in the 1980s and became one of the key figures in Turkish media. Over the years, he worked for several major newspapers and held important editorial positions. Some of his most notable roles include: Editor-in-Chief of Sabah Newspaper – One of Turkey’s leading newspapers. Columnist for Yeni Şafak and Star Newspapers – Writing on politics, democracy, and human rights. Contributor to Independent Turkish Media Outlets – Including opposition-friendly platforms. Babahan has been a strong advocate of press freedom, democracy, and human rights. His work often focused on Turkish politics, governance, and international affairs. Political Views and Exile Due to his critical stance against the Turkish government, particularly President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s policies, Babahan faced legal pressure and threats. As a result, he left Turkey and went into exile. From abroad, he continues to be an active voice in Turkish political discourse through journalism and social media. Current Work While in exile, Babahan has remained engaged in journalism and political analysis. He contributes to international news platforms and independent Turkish media, focusing on topics such as: Democracy and authoritarianism in Turkey Media freedom and press suppression Human rights violations Geopolitical dynamics in the region
Dimitar Bechev
ContributorDr. Dimitar Bechev is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. He is also a research fellow at the Center of Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the director of the European Policy Institute, a think-tank based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Dr. Bechev has published extensively, in both academic and policy format, on EU foreign relations, the politics of Turkey and the Balkans, Russian foreign policy, and energy security. His book Rival Power, published by Yale University Press in 2017, explores Russia’s role in Southeast Europe (Balkans, Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey). He has held research and teaching positions at Oxford and Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo as well as visiting fellowships at Harvard and the London School of Economics. From 2010 to 2014, he was the head of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) office in Sofia. Dr. Bechev is a frequent contributor to Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera Online, Oxford Analytica, POLITICO, and EUObserver. His quotes have appeared in leading newspapers such as the Financial Times, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. He holds a DPhil in international relations from the University of Oxford.
Amy Booth
ContributorDr. Amy Booth is a medical practitioner from South Africa. While working during the COVID-19 pandemic, she became aware of the environmental impact of health systems, prompting her to embark on research in this area. She is currently based at the University of Oxford where she is doing doctoral research, funded by a Rhodes Scholarship, on the carbon footprint of the pharmaceutical supply chain. She concurrently co-runs a Sustainable Health Care course at Oxford. She has previously consulted with the World Health Organisation on the role of environmental sources in contributing to anti-microbial resistance, with the United Nations on developing a standardised framework for measuring sustainability, is a member of an EU-wide Erasmus+ project on sustainable prescribing and sits on the Global Lethal Humidity Council. She has several publications on the intersection of climate and health and has presented on this topic on multiple national and international platforms, including featuring on the BBC Focus on Africa podcast. She is a member of the first cohort of the UK Young Academy and an Emerging Research Leader in Climate and Health.
Ali Bulaç
ContributorAli Bulaç is a prominent Turkish intellectual, writer, journalist, and sociologist known for his works on Islam, politics, and modernity. Born in 1951 in Mardin, Turkey, Bulaç has played a significant role in the intellectual discourse surrounding Islam and democracy, secularism, and the interaction between religion and modern society. Education and Career Bulaç studied sociology at Istanbul University and later became a key figure in Turkey's Islamic intellectual landscape. His writings and analyses often focus on the relationship between Islam and modernity, the role of religion in politics, and issues related to democracy and human rights. Throughout his career, Bulaç has contributed to numerous newspapers and magazines, including Zaman, Yeni Şafak, and Milli Gazete. His work has been influential in shaping debates about Islamic thought and governance in Turkey and beyond. Publications and Thought Ali Bulaç has authored several books on Islamic philosophy, sociology, and political theory. He has been a strong advocate for dialogue between Islamic and Western traditions and has critiqued both secularist and authoritarian interpretations of governance in Muslim societies. His work often addresses topics such as: Islam and democracy The role of civil society in governance Pluralism in Islamic thought The impact of Western modernity on Muslim societies Legal Issues and Later Life Bulaç was arrested in 2016 following the failed coup attempt in Turkey, as part of a broader crackdown on journalists and intellectuals accused of links to the Gülen movement. He was imprisoned for over two years before being released. Despite political challenges, Bulaç continues to contribute to intellectual discussions and remains an influential voice in contemporary Islamic thought. Selected Books by Ali Bulaç İslam ve Demokrasi (Islam and Democracy) – A critical analysis of the compatibility between Islam and democratic governance. Modern Ulus Devlet ve Din (Modern Nation-State and Religion) – Discusses the impact of modern nation-states on religious thought and practice. Din ve Modernizm (Religion and Modernism) – Explores the effects of modernity on religious life and Islamic thought. İslam ve Sekülerizm (Islam and Secularism) – Examines the relationship between Islam and secular ideologies. İslam'ın Üç Siyaset Tarzı (Islam’s Three Political Approaches) – A study on different political traditions within Islamic history. Müslüman Toplumda Kadın ve Aile (Women and Family in Muslim Society) – Discusses the role of women and family structures in Islam. Çağdaş Kavramlar ve Düzenler (Contemporary Concepts and Systems) – Analyzes modern sociopolitical concepts from an Islamic perspective. Batı’da Din ve Sekülerizm (Religion and Secularism in the West) – A comparative study of religion and secularism in Western societies. Kuran ve Sünnet Bütünlüğü (The Integrity of Quran and Sunnah) – Investigates the complementary relationship between the Quran and the Prophet’s traditions. İslam Dünyasında Çağdaş Tartışmalar (Contemporary Debates in the Islamic World) – A compilation of intellectual debates within the Muslim world. Ali Bulaç’s works are highly regarded for their critical approach to political and religious issues, especially regarding Islam’s role in modern governance and society.
Michael Gunter
ContributorDr. Michael M. Gunter is a professor of political science at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee, where he won the Caplenor Faculty Research Award in 1995, the Outstanding Faculty Award in Teaching in 2000, the Faculty Research Award in 2023-2024, and the American Political Science Association award for Outstanding Teaching in Political Science in 2000, among others. He also is the Secretary-General of the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) headquartered in Brussels. In the past he taught courses for many years during the summer at the International University in Vienna where he won the Distinguished Visiting Professor Award in 2003, as well as courses on Kurdish and Middle Eastern politics, among others, for the U.S. Government Areas Studies Program and U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Institute in Washington, D.C. He has also taught at Kent State University and Fisk University. Dr. Gunter is the author or editor of 23 critically praised, peer-reviewed scholarly books on the Kurdish question and other subjects. He has also published more than 200 peer-reviewed scholarly book chapters and articles on the Kurds and many other issues in such leading scholarly periodicals as the Middle East Journal, Middle East Policy, Middle East Quarterly, Middle East Critique, Orient, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Maghreb Review, Orbis, American Journal of International Law, International Organization, World Affairs, Journal of International Affairs (Columbia University), Brown Journal of World Affairs, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Current History, Third World Quarterly, International Journal of Turkish Studies, Insight Turkey, Turkish Studies, Terrorism: An International Journal, and Arms Control, among numerous others. His most recent books are Heydar Aliyev and the Foundations of Modern Azerbaijan (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024); Erdogan’s Path to Authoritarianism: The Continuing Journey (Lanham MD: Lexington Books, 2024); The Karabakh Conflict Between Armenia and Azerbaijan (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023); The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Historical and Political Perspectives (London and New York, 2023); The Kurds in the Middle East: Enduring Problems and New Dynamics (Lanham MD: Lexington Books, 2020); Kurdish Autonomy and U.S. Foreign Policy (New York: Peter Lang, 2020); The Kurds: A Divided Nation in Search of a State, 3rd ed., (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2019); Routledge Handbook on the Kurds, (London & New York: Routledge, 2019); Historical Dictionary of the Kurds, 3rd ed., (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018); Kurdish Issues: Essays in Honor of Robert W. Olson (Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 2016); and Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War (London: Hurst Publications, 2014).
M Hakan Yavuz
ContributorDr. M.Hakan Yavuz is a professor of political science at the University of Utah. His current projects focus on transnational Islamic networks in Central Asia and Turkey; the role of Islam in state-building and nationalism; ethnic cleansing and genocide; and ethno-religious conflict management. Yavuz received his earlier education in Ankara, Turkey, graduated with B.A. from Siyasal Bilgiler Fakultesi, Ankara. He received his M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and spent a semester at the Hebrew University, Israel (1990) and received his Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998 in political science. M. Hakan Yavuz so far published four books: Toward and Islamic Enlightenment: The Gülen Movement (Oxford University Press, 2013). Islamic Political Identity in Turkey (Oxford University Press, 2003); Muslim Democracy and Secularism in Turkey (Cambridge University Press, 2009); ed. The Emergence of a New Turkey (University of Utah Press, 2007).Yavuz has received a number of fellowships, some of them are the MacArthur fellowship,University of California Fellowship, Rockefeller Fellowship, and most recently was a Tanner Humanities Center Fellow in 2014. Yavuz also carried out an extensive fieldwork in Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan to examine the relationship between Islam and nationalism and the preservation and dissemination of Islamic knowledge under socialism. He is an author of more than 30 articles on Islam, nationalism, Kurdish question, and modern Turkish politics. He published in Comparative Politics, Middle East Critique, Middle East Journal, Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies, SAIS Review, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Current History, Central Asian Survey, Journal of Islamic Studies, and Journal of Palestine Studies.Some of his articles are translated into Arabic and Bosnian from English. He is an editorial member of Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs and Critique.
Mümtazer Türkone
ConributorDr. Mümtaz’er Türköne was born in 1956 in Istanbul. He graduated from the Political and Administrative Sciences Department of the Faculty of Political Sciences of Ankara University in 1978. He received master's degree in 1986 and PhD in 1990 from the same faculty. Türköne became associate professor in 1993 and professor in 1999. He worked at Gazi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of International Relations until his retirement. He lives in Istanbul. Türköne has many articles and books in the fields of Islamism, nationalism, secularism, and 19th Century Turkish Political History. He was imprisoned for 2 years after the 12 September 1980 Military Coup, and for more than 4 years as a Zaman Newspaper writer after 15 July 2016.