Cuneyt GURER, PhD
Dr. Gurer received his Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at Kent State University in 2007. His research interests and areas of expertise are Transnational and Comparative Security Policies, International Organizations and Security, Regional Security, Human Displacement, Refugees Integration and Security Policies, Research Methods and Statistics.
He has extensive experience in international projects and participated in several internationally recognized research activities. He also attended international meetings on security-related matters and presented papers on “regional and global security”, “comparative policies”, and “institutions.” He has teaching experience at various institutions, taught social science and research methods courses, and most recently gave courses on “International Relations and Terrorism” and “Research Methods”.
He has published several articles, book chapters and opinion papers in academic journals on security issues. In addition to teaching and research, he participated in projects with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), UNICEF and UNODC.
He also worked with non-governmental aid agencies dealing with Syrian refugees in Turkey and provided consultancy to increase the efficiency of services at the ground level. He has recently worked at George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies as an Adjunct Professor and lectured on “Foreign Fighter Threat in Turkey” and “Refugees, Camps and Security in Turkey.”
He is working on two projects related to “political regime changes and security” and “conflicts, refugees and integration.”
Niyazi Ekici, PhD
Assistant Professor
Law Enforcement and Justice Administration
Western Illinois University
N–Ekici@wiu.edu
Dr. Ekici is an Assistant Professor at Western Illinois University and a law enforcement veteran. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, The State University of New Jersey. He has many publications about terrorism, community policing and crime analysis.
Sedat Kula, PhD
Dr Kula holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the Turkish National Police Academy in 1999 and a Master of Science in criminal justice from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2005. He received his PhD in public affairs from the University of Central Florida in 2011.
Dr. Kula served in the Turkish National Police for over 17 years in various ranks and positions. In addition to his practical policing experience in the field, he also engaged in several national and international law enforcement training initiatives organized by the UN, NATO, and the EU.
His research interests include police management, police behaviour, criminal justice policy, terrorism, and quantitative research in criminal justice and criminology. Dr. Kula has published more than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and several book chapters related to current criminal justice issues. His recent publications have appeared in the International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, the European Journal on Crime Policy and Research, Police, Practice and Research, and the Journal of Terrorism Research. His research endeavours have provided numerous insights into some of the most urgent criminal justice problems and assisted in making critical public safety and security advances.
Dr. Kula is working on two research projects related to global crime threats with his colleagues. The first research project is about analysing global human trafficking trends to understand the relationship between the victims of human trafficking and offenders. His second project is titled “the Global Terrorist Incidents Analysis”, which aims to study the pledge patterns of religious-based terrorist organisations.
Ahmet Celik, PhD
Dr. Celik is an honorary research associate at the University College of London and lectures in many higher education institutions part-time. He earned his master’s degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York and a doctoral degree from the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, The State University of New Jersey. He has also completed a graduate-level Advanced Security Studies Program at Marshall Center, The European Center for Security Studies in Germany.
During his quarter-century-long successful law enforcement experience, he held various positions, including UN peacekeeper in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Deputy Counsellor for Security Affairs at the London Turkish Embassy.
He also has a strong background in information technologies (IT). He contributed to the design of an excellent information management system. He has software development experience and great experience working with a significant volume of data.
He has also played pivotal roles in many successful national and international conferences. He is a recipient of the UN Medal and many commendations at the national and international levels.
He co-authored a textbook, co-edited two books, and published many scholarly articles. They were all cited many times.
His research and teaching interests are in security studies, post-conflict territories, peacekeeping, terrorism, national security, and transnational crimes.
Fatih Tepe, PhD
Dr. Tepe earned a B.A. in Security Studies, an M.S. in Criminal Justice from Roger Williams University and an Ed.D. in Leadership Education from Spalding University. He has 18 years of policing experience at different ranks and policing units, including crime investigation, terrorism, police training and background investigations.
Dr. Tepe lectures about police leadership, management and leadership, leadership in crises, crime theories, community policing, public and private security, terrorism, statistics and research methods. Dr. Tepe authored book, authored / co-authored international peer-reviewed journal articles, and national peer-reviewed journal articles.
Kamil Yilmaz, PhD
Dr. Yilmaz has eighteen years of theoretical and hands-on experience in security, counterterrorism and socio-political analysis. He has worked collaboratively with security professionals, sociologists and anthropologists to do fieldwork in various topics related to security, including radicalization/de-radicalization/rehabilitation of individuals from
terrorist groups, policy analyses on legal aspects of governments’ counterterrorism practices and political risk analysis.
He has taught undergraduate and graduate students in counterterrorism, international politics, discourse analysis and research methods based on theory and practice. He has also trained security professionals and local government officials to protect critical infrastructures, emergency management and counterterrorism.
In addition to numerous articles in international peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, he has published a book entitled “Disengaging from Terrorism: Lessons from the Turkish Penitents” (Routledge 2014), which has
been reviewed as being one of the most innovative books on terrorism and political violence.
Yilmaz holds a PhD in applied (political) anthropology from Columbia University (2012). He also has a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of CRJ in New York and three Master’s degrees from Columbia University in the fields of International Affairs, Political
Anthropology and Applied Anthropology. He worked at various international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) in New York and Beirut and the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC) in Bucharest, Romania. He is interested in Computational social science, and his research interests include political violence, anthropology of terrorism, radicalization and deradicalization processes related to terrorism, identity politics, elite formation and circulation, as well as international security and relations.
Hakan Cem Cetin, PhD
Cetin, who also has 23 years of managerial
experience in the Ministry of Homeland Security, Turkey, is an associate professor with MS and PhD degrees from Rutgers University, US.
He is currently the chief editor and co-founder of the Global Center for Security Studies. His areas of expertise are witness protection, global security and threats, global and regional conflicts, terrorism and national security, transnational organized crime, international institutions, international police cooperation, police leadership & communication skills, and research methods in social science.
He co-authored a textbook, co-edited one book, and published many scholarly articles with many citations.
Murat Yildiz
Murat Yildiz is a Programme Manager and an expert on global, transnational organized crime and illicit drug trafficking. His professional experience encompasses senior positions within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Mr. Yildiz worked as a Political Affairs Officer and Research, Development and Training Adviser in the organization’s Vienna headquarters and as a Deputy Director at the OSCE Mission in Skopje, North Macedonia. He worked with the OSCE Secretary-General and Permanent Delegations in drafting OSCE’s First Ministerial Council Decision on “Engagement with Afghanistan”. He designed and implemented several technical assistance projects on countering illicit drug trafficking in Central Asia and other regions of Afghanistan.
He also worked at the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law, developing a “Core Course Curriculum on Succesful Investigation, Prosecution, and Adjudication of Terrorism Cases for Common and Civil Law Systems”.
He has been working on research projects related to global illicit drug trafficking. Currently drafting “Global Update on Illicit Drug Trafficking” takes stock of illicit drug trafficking (cultivation, production, trafficking/routes and methods, developments on global illicit drugs seizures, consumption, prevalence rates between 2010-2020), policy implications, and the impact of COVID-19. The report also investigates changes in the modus operandi of drug trafficking syndicates. Secondly, he is designing mixed-method research on the financial remittance system of Hawala in the context of the flow of the revenues generated from illicit drug trafficking.
Mr Yildiz has a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and a Master’s Degree in Educational Sciences. He is currently working on his PhD dissertation in Philosophy and Educational Sciences at the University of Vienna.
Kutluer Karademir, PhD
Kutluer Karademir earned his Master’s degree from American University in International Relations and completed his PhD at George Mason University School of Public Policy (now SCHAR).
Dr Karademir conducted comprehensive research projects for the Istanbul Police Department and taught research methods courses at Ataturk University in Erzurum. His research interest covers Public Policy Analysis, Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods, Complex Systems, Knowledge Management, Crisis Management, Terrorism and Democratic Policing.
Mustafa Bal, PhD
Dr Bal received his PhD in Applied Anthropology from the Department of International & Transcultural Studies, TC, Columbia University in 2014. He conducted ethnographic field research in the Republic of North Macedonia and Egypt.
His main research interests include Contentious Politics and Social Movements, politics of Cyberspace, Cybersecurity, and Cyberpolitics in international relations.
He has previous work experience in security and worked for about 8 years within the ranks of the United Nations in New York and Vienna.
Huseyin Cinoglu, PhD
He has published and presented extensively in the areas of (countering) violent extremism, (countering) terrorism, (de)radicalization, immigration, crime and criminality, identity formation, terrorist identity formation, and reality construction in total institutions. Dr. Cinoglu also served as an Expert Evaluator for the Research Executive Agency of the European Commission in Brussels.
Idris Guclu, PhD
Fatih Balci, PhD
Dr. Balci is an Associate Professor and researcher at the Global Center for Security Studies. He received his master’s degree from the University of Baltimore in Criminal Justice and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in Political Science. He has 19 years of Law Enforcement and 5 years of Correction field experience besides his academic career.
His research interests and areas of expertise are Law Enforcement Management, Research Methods, Police Ethics, Comparative Security Policies, Political Violence, and Ethnic and National Minorities. He has published two books, “Police Training and Management” and “Security Management”. Moreover, he has forthcoming three books on Correction issues. Dr. Balci’s articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Fatih Yamac, PhD
Fatih Yamac, PhD, is a distinguished political and social scientist specialising in terrorism prevention, radicalisation, and information operations within the security sector. He pursued and completed his master’s and doctoral degrees in Political Science and Public Administration in France. With two decades of professional experience, Yamac has actively participated in national and international projects, training programs, and scientific studies across Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa.
Currently serving as a senior research analyst at Global Center for Security Studies, Yamac focuses on combating terrorism, organised crime, and the prevention of radicalisation. He also specialises in social media analysis, discourse analysis, and information operations. Yamac employs both qualitative and quantitative methods in his research and analytical work.
Fluent in Turkish, French, Dutch, English, and basic Spanish, Yamac possesses exceptional linguistic skills that aid his international engagements. With a comprehensive understanding of his subject matter and a wealth of practical experience, Yamac continues to contribute significantly to security and counterterrorism.
Bahadir Kucukuysal, PhD
Dr Kucukuysal is a distinguished scholar in criminal justice, primarily focusing on transnational organised crime, drug prevention, and money laundering. He holds a master’s degree from the American University School of Public Affairs and a PhD from the University of Central Florida School of Health and Public Affairs.
Dr Kucukuysal stands out as a genuinely multifaceted professional, having a unique blend of field experience, academic expertise, and extensive international exposure.
He has about 17 years of managerial experience in the Turkish National Police. During his tenure, he actively worked in and contributed to projects implemented by some esteemed institutions such United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), British Serious Organized Crimes Agency (SOCA), The Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, and Economic Cooperation Organization.
He also trained many national and international law enforcement officials and provided expert consultancy to law enforcement agencies. He actively participated in and contributed to numerous regional and international meetings, conferences, seminars, symposiums, and workshops.
He co-edited a book and published several scholarly articles. He also conducted field research, analysed official counter-narcotics and organised crime data, and contributed to official reports to inform policy and decision-making.
Recently, he has been working on two research projects focusing on global human trafficking trends and analysing the pledge patterns of religiously-motivated terrorist organisations.
Cumali KOCAMAN
Mr Kocaman holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the School of Security Science in 1997 and a Master of Arts degree in International Security Studies from the Bundeswehr University, The Collage of Germany Federal Armed Forces, The University of Munich in Garmish-Partenkirchen in 2013.
Mr Kocaman served in various ranks and positions in Turkish Law Enforcement for more than 26 years. In addition to his practical policing experience in the field, he also engaged in several national and international law enforcement training initiatives organized by the UN and NATO.
He is an extraordinarily dynamic, confident and results-driven professional Law Enforcement Officer with 26 years of successive experience in security, conducting investigations, law & order, public service, law enforcement training, armed police operations, police force activities and particularly negotiation tactics with Terrorists Organizations. His research interests include external and internal inquiries, public safety programs, counter-terrorism operations, emergencies and crisis management, policy & procedure development, budget planning & management and media & public relation tasks.
His research produces some of the most remarkable insights about the behaviours of terrorist organisations’ aims and activities. It proposes precious lessons about the negotiation processes with radical and extremist groups.
Mr Kocaman is now working as a Security Adviser and conducting a research project for the tactic of the negotiations with the terrorist groups. His project is titled “The Settlement Process with the Terrorist”, which aims to study the radical and extremist terrorist organisations in the UK and the USA.
Yakup Calisir
Mr Calisir completed 24 years of police work in different police units of the Turkish National Police (TNP) as mainly police chief and in the international civilian police forces.
He completed his MA degree at the Institute of Security Sciences in the program of security strategies and its management. He also had the necessary credits in the PhD program of the same institute on the program of security strategies and its management but had to leave the program on the stage of qualifying for his dedication to delivering and designing police training programs for the Turkish National Police as well as foreign police forces.
In the academic sphere, Mr Calisir’s commitment to fostering international law enforcement cooperation and capacity building is evident as a Resident Twinning Adviser counterpart for the EU Twinning Project on Training of Border Police in Germany.
Mr Calisir’s journey through academia and practical experience has been characterized by an unwavering commitment to excellence, profound expertise, and invaluable contributions to policing, international peacekeeping (UNBIH) and training. He also played an important role in developing democratic policing capability, working as a partner trainer with North Macedonian Police within OSCE. His career trajectory, marked by roles as an instructor, trainer, investigator, and chief of various specialized units within the Turkish National Police, reflects his unwavering dedication to enhancing the capabilities of law enforcement personnel.
Mr Calisir’s dedication to knowledge dissemination is exemplified by his role as an editor and a member of the selection committees for international symposiums he helped organize. Furthermore, his involvement in European Union projects, such as the “Outputs of Training of Border Police”, underscores his versatile skill set and his capacity to shape the future of law enforcement training, a field that directly impacts the security and well-being of communities globally.
