Department

The Department of Political Science and International Relations was established in 1999 and took its first cohort of students in 2000. The department has been rapidly growing since then and is becoming one of the leading institutions in its field of specialization in Turkey. We currently have a thriving undergraduate program that recruits from among the top three to four percent of all high school graduates in Turkey, who are admitted into the program on the basis of their scores in the nationwide university entrance exam. The department also has a highly popular and selective MA program that usually admits only ten percent of all its applicants.

The department’s undergraduate program aims to provide basic and up-to-date knowledge about the history, development, and legal framework of the international political system, with special emphasis on Turkey’s place in it. Courses offered cover a range of areas including political theory, political sociology, comparative politics, public administration, international relations, and global affairs

In addition to the wide spectrum of basic courses in the fields of political science and international relations, such courses as “Correspondence in English” and “Diplomatic Correspondence” are offered for the purpose of developing the students’ ability to communicate in international contexts.

Although the primary language of instruction is Turkish, one-third of the undergraduate curriculum is conducted in English. Students are therefore expected to be competent in the English language, and those who are not spend one prepatory year in language instruction.

The research interests of the faculty are wide ranging and cover a variety of fields, including political theory, public administration, human rights and democracy, minority affairs, Islamist and nationalist movements, globalization, and military affairs, while area specializations include the EU, the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus.