Özhan Hancilar (2013 BSSRPL)
Özhan Hancılar, born in 1976, is assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Pamukkale University. He graduated from the Law Faculty of Ankara University in 2000 and received an M.A. degree in Public Law from the Ankara University in 2004. He is a holder of a PhD in Public Law from the same university. He served as a member of the Human Rights Council of Denizli Province between 2007 and 2011. His main research interests are human rights and the use of force in international law.
Muhsine Önal (2013 BSSRPL)
After graduating Turkish Language and Literature Department I’ve started my second BA in Sociology and I’m about to finish it this spring. My main concerns are human rights and human right violations in text books. I’ve affiliated with Anne Frank House Amsterdam and joined several workshops and shoot several Free2Choose videos about human rights. Also I’m working as a member of a special unit founded under Sociology department of my university and we are working on textbooks of primary to high school. After we state human rights violations in the books, we are reporting them to the Ministry of Education and develop violation free courses for schools. My main concern is Religion books.
Gülnaz Görgin (2007 ISSRPL)
Gülnaz Görgin is fourth year Political Science student in Istanbul Bilgi University. She coordinates many social responsibility projects and is the 2003-2007 Head of Development Student Club; the 2005-2006 Vice President of European Union Club; the 2005-2007 Life Platform General Secretary; member of the 2007-SULH Club, and the Vice President of the Politics International Relation Law Student Club at Istanbul Bilgi University.
Mihail Puskuloglu (2007 ISSRPL)
I was born in Istanbul in 1986. I graduated from Zappeion primary school in 1997 and from Zograpfeion High School in 2004. I’m a sophomore in Bilgi University School of Law. I worked in the Greek Consulate in Istanbul, Visa Department during the summer of 2004. I also worked as a tourist guide for a short period. I participated in the organization of the conference “Meeting in Istanbul: The present and the future” concerning the Rum minority in Istanbul, held in June of 2006. Some of my habits are reading books, stamp collecting, performing in plays and playing chess. I speak Turkish, Greek and English.
Selma Şevkli (2007 ISSRPL)
Selma Şevkli was born in Germany in 1981. She got her B.A. degree in Psychology and worked with children in Washington D.C. for 2.5 years. After coming back to Turkey, she has worked at Intercultural Dialogue Platform as the foreign relations coordinator. She got to chance to meet different religious and ethnic minority groups while organizing meetings. She started travelling to the Middle East, especially Palestine / Israel Area. At the moment, she is a graduate student at Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of Cultural Studies. She is developing projects to encourage youth to volunteer in the conflicted areas, especially in West Bank. She believes that peace is healthier if it comes from the base. Before having any judgment, we need to meet and understand each other. She recently opened a photo exhibition in Istanbul: “The Other Children: Kenya & Palestine” including 50 portraits of smiling children from those countries to emphasize they can smile in such hard conditions. Her articles about cultural diversity, conflict, dialogue and travels are published at Turkish Daily News, Turkish Weekly, Today’s Zaman and Zaman.
Esra Ünal (2007 ISSRPL)
My name is Esra Ünal. I was born in Istanbul, in Turkey, on 13th of April, 1986. My education career started in 1991, in Children Education Department of Istanbul Municipality. I performed in many plays till 2001. I graduated from FMV Private Ayazaga Isik High School. In 2005, I started to study law in Istanbul Bilgi University. I am a sophomore. I am the founding president of Istanbul Bilgi University Human Rights Club and I am a member of Findikli Rotaract Club in Istanbul. I have attended to student Exchange program of Rotary in Austria and to the social projects held in Greece, executed by the USA Cornell University, in Germany, executed by European Union and in Thailand, executed by Greenway. I play tennis. My favorite hobby is painting. I like travelling and learn new cultures and languages. I speak English and German as foreign languages.
Riza Yildirim (2007 ISSRPL)
I am currently writing my Ph.D. dissertation on the “Making of Qizilbash Identity in the Ottoman Empire, 1487-1514”; in the Department of History of Bilkent University. Hopefully I will finish it by September 2007. During my MA studies I have studied the heterodox dervishes and their role in the society and politics during early Ottoman periods. Now I am focused on the respond of Anatolian nomadic Turkomans to the Safavid call, on the process which had much on the production of the qizilbash identity.In general, I am interested in the history of non-conformist popular religious groups, especially in the history of Alevi-Bektashi society. Although my primary area of specialization falls within the scope of history, I have intense interest in the anthropological aspects of the issue as well. I have already conducted some readings especially on nomadism-pastoralism, tribalism, orality, social memory, cognitive development and religious perception in oral societies, etc. As a last point, I am personally a member of Alevi society.
Ahmet Yukleyen (2003, 2004 ISSRPL)