He received his PhD in Political Science from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey in 2011. His interests are Middle East politics, particularly Turkish, Kurdish, and Iranian politics, parties and party systems, electoral behavior, religion, and nationalism. His publications have appeared in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, the Middle East Journal, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, and Turkish Studies. His book, National Elections in Turkey: People, Politics, and the Party System came out in July 2015 with Syracuse University Press.