Ezgi Başaran

Political scientist who focuses on Arab-speaking MENA and Turkey

Ezgi Başaran is a political scientist who focuses on Arab-speaking MENA and Turkey. Prior to joining academia, Ezgi was a journalist who gained recognition for her coverage of Turkey’s Kurdish conflict, beginning her career as a reporter at Hurriyet daily in 2004.

She later became the youngest editor of Radikal, the largest center-left news outlet in Turkey — and the first woman to hold this position.

At the Southeast European Center (SEESOX) in St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, she served as the coordinator of the Program on Contemporary Turkey, where she explored the intersection of journalism and academia.

Ezgi has written on Turkish domestic politics, with her insights featured in major international media such as the BBC, the Financial Times, The Economist, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Her book “Barış Bir Varmış, Bir Yokmuş” (Once upon a Time Peace) was published by Doğan Kitap in 2015, while her first English-language book, “Frontline Turkey: The Conflict at the Heart of the Middle East,” was published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury in 2017.

Her most recent research project focuses on the interplay between Turkish Islamists and North African Islamists following the Arab uprisings.

She holds an MPhil and a DPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Oxford.