He studied at Bergen University (Norway), Lund University (Sweden), Institute of Oriental Studies and Yerevan State University (Armenia). He was Visiting Professor at Duke University, NC (2016), Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, CA (2009-2010) and Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2007). He authored an award-winning monograph “Islam in the Social and Political Life of Turkey, 1970-2001” in 2008 and co-authored “History of Turkish Republic” in 2014. He has published extensively in leading international peer-reviewed journals covering Turkish domestic and foreign policy as well as regional security problems