Bio

I am an Assistant Professor of Government and Legal Studies at Bowdoin College and a research affiliate at the Global Governance Center at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Originally from Turkey, I hold a Ph.D. in International Relations and International Law from the Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland. Before joining Bowdoin, I held research and faculty positions at Harvard University, Boston University, and California State University, Long Beach. 

I conduct interdisciplinary research on international relations and international law, specializing in international courts, human rights, and ocean governance. My first book, Between Forbearance and Audacity: The European Court of Human Rights and the Norm against Torture (Cambridge University Press, 2023), received the American Political Science Association (APSA) Human Rights Section’s Best Book Award (2025), the International Studies Association (ISA) International Law Section’s Best Book Award (2026), and an Honorable Mention for the Chadwick F. Alger Prize from the International Organization Section of the ISA (2025). It is available with open access. I am also the co-author, with Nico Krisch and Pedro Martínez Esponda, of Change in International Law: Paths, Processes, Power (Oxford University Press, 2026), and co-editor, with Nico Krisch, of The Many Paths of Change in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2023).

My article “The Defocalizing Effect of International Courts: Evidence from Maritime Delimitation Practices” (Review of International Organizations, 2024, with Umut Yüksel) received the inaugural Best Article on International Law and Social Science Award from the American Society of International Law’s Interest Group on International Law and Social Science. It is available with open access.

You can see me discuss my career trajectory and work in the following EJIL:Live interview with Sarah Nouwen, Editor in Chief of the European Journal of International Law (10 August 2020).