Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı
Managing Director, GMF South and Wider Europe and Regional Director, TürkiyeEnglish
Turkish
Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı is the managing director of GMF South and Wider Europe and the regional director for Türkiye. Prior to joining GMF, he was the manager of the Resource Development Department of the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey. Previously, Ünlühisarcıklı served as director of the ARI Movement, a Turkish NGO promoting participatory democracy, and as a consultant at AB Consulting and Investment Services.
Ünlühisarcıklı is an expert on transatlantic relations and Turkish foreign policy, domestic politics, democratization, and civil society. He is quoted frequently in international media including The New York Times, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Deutsche Welle, and the BBC.
After graduating from the Robert College (Istanbul), Ünlühisarcıklı received his bachelor's degree in business administration from Marmara University and his master's degree from Koç University. He speaks fluent English in addition to his native Turkish.
Media Mentions
Turkey sees its status in NATO rise, thanks to its weapons factories and Trump
There's a lot going on regarding peace in the Middle East. It's not just the Pakistanis who are busy
Analysis: Putin draws Erdogan a red line on Russia's southern flank with Karabakh deal
Turkey's rivalry with Iran shifts as US threats create unlikely common ground
Israel Says It Will Reassess Relations With Turkey After War Crimes Accusations
By pulling out of the Ukrainian grain deal, Russia risks alienating its few remaining partners
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, The Media Line, Ukraine Vows Military Advances as Questions Raised Over Grain Accord
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Al Jazeera, PKK central to Turkish opposition to Sweden, Finland joining NATO
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Al Monitor, NATO allies read Turkey’s wish list as Ankara holds up membership bids
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Foreign Policy, Why Erdogan Is Spoiling NATO’s Nordic Welcome Party
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Jerusalem Post, US hopes arms deal with Turkey will deter Russia, analysts say
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, The Media Line, Turkey Claims Success in Fresh Offensive Against Kurdish Fighters
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, NYTimes, Subtle Shifts Raise Hopes for a Cease-fire in Ukraine
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, The National News, Erdogan faces political storm with attempt to change voting law again
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Al Monitor, In troubled US-Turkey relations, F-16 deal seen as path for dialogue
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Al Montior, Territorial spats reheat ahead of Turkey-Greece talks
Featured Work
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August 12, 2026
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July 17, 2026
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March 2, 2026
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December 15, 2025
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October 6, 2025
Hamas’ attack on Israel two years ago and the events unfolding in its wake have reverberated beyond the Middle East. The war in Gaza; the spillover...
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September 26, 2025
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September 26, 2025
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September 22, 2025
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August 27, 2025
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August 11, 2025
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June 16, 2025
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January 27, 2025
In 2025, the Middle East is set to undergo a profound reconfiguration. ...
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December 20, 2024
Assad’s downfall brings both significant opportunities and considerable risks for Türkiye....
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November 6, 2024
During the 2020 US election cycle, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan publicly endorsed Donald Trump and deliberately delayed a congratulatory...
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June 28, 2024
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June 20, 2024
For Türkiye, each of the two main US presidential contenders offers advantages and disadvantages....
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April 15, 2024
Over more than six decades, the relationship between Türkiye and the EU has undergone a profound transformation. Just 20 years ago, Türkiye had real...
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April 2, 2024
Less than one year ago the Turkish opposition alliance lost presidential and parliamentary elections and subsequently collapsed. ...
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March 21, 2024
Türkiye is gearing up for the local elections on March 31, a year after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won reelection and secured a parliamentary...
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January 31, 2024
There is now a chance that long-troubled relations between Türkiye and the United States could find firmer footing....
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October 13, 2023
Hoping to build on its previous success in mediating a grain deal and a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, Türkiye has offered to serve as...
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October 9, 2023
The mutual distrust between Türkiye and its Western allies shows no signs of lessening in the near future, given the former’s democratic backsliding....
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July 21, 2023
After months of playing hardball, and on the eve of the Vilnius summit, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Türkiye gave the green light to Sweden’s...
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July 12, 2023
GMF experts share their insights and analysis from the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
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June 26, 2023
GMF experts react to the revolt of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner forces in Russia in our latest Quick Reads series. ...
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It was expected to be a competitive race, and so it was. It was also expected to be an unfair election, and that, too, it was. ...
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May 17, 2023
The Parliamentary and presidential elections held in Turkey on May 14 place Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been governing Turkey since 2002—first as...
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February 16, 2023
Anniversaries should be celebratory, but some are painful remembrances of events that elicited profound change. ...
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November 15, 2022
In recent weeks, European capitals looked at the news from Washington with varying degrees of expectation and anxiety in view of the Republican Party...
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September 29, 2022
President Vladimir Putin is about to announce that the four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine where Moscow organized sham “referendums” in recent...
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July 20, 2022
One of the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been global food shortage and increasing food prices....
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After parallel and tightly coordinated processes, Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO. ...
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June 1, 2022
While Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on and Europe’s security remains threatened, there is a strong push from three Eastern Partnership countries,...
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May 19, 2022
Russia’s invasion of and ongoing war in Ukraine is drastically rearranging the European security architecture that has been built since the end of the...
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April 27, 2022
Russia’s war against Ukraine and the resulting geopolitical risks have highlighted not only Turkey’s strategic value but also its need for security...
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April 14, 2022
The “Turkish Perceptions of the European Union” public opinion survey, conducted by The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), presents a...
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January 10, 2022
After almost 20 years of uninterrupted rule by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, first as prime minister and then as president, Turkey may be on the verge of...
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September 7, 2021
Despite the hyperbole and verbal daggers of some in the European and American foreign policy communities over President Biden's withdrawal from...
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May 14, 2020
A weekly transatlantic reading list from the desks of GMF experts:
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April 16, 2020
The refugee crisis on Turkey's borders can only be resolved with a new EU deal. It should build on the current plan but avoid its flaws, writes Özgür...
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October 15, 2019
As Turkey steps up air strikes and a ground offensive launched this week against Kurdish-held areas of northern Syria, we take a look at the context...
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June 24, 2019
Requesting a rerun of the mayoral election in İstanbul was a gambit for President Erdoğan and the odds do not look favorable....
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April 2, 2019
The municipal elections that took place on Sunday in Turkey were a clear win for the opposition....
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April 1, 2019
"Thanks to years of complacency in Washington and Ankara, Turkey’s commitment to NATO has become questionable and it will take very strong political...
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April 15, 2017
Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı, director of the GMF Ankara office, joins CNN's Becky Anderson to discuss the outcome of the constitutional referendum held in...
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March 2, 2016
The terrorist attack against military service buses carrying ranked and civilian staff on February 17 in Ankara — the fourth major attack is less than...
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Turkey has experienced numerous terror attacks in 2016....
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The international community has failed to fully grasp the sense of unity and solidarity the recent coup attempt has created among the Turkish...
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Could Turkey’s Elections Reset Relations with the West?...
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ANKARA — The U.S.–Turkey relationship has always been difficult, but never so vulnerable. Diverging priorities and, it is time to say, contravening...
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The situation in Turkey is becoming unacceptable from a Western liberal perspective....
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The attempted coup d'état in Turkey came at a time when no one expected it, and ended very quickly thanks to the determination of the political...
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Photo by Mstyslav Chernov - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, h...
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Polarization is unique neither to Turkey nor to the current period....
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The United States and Europe cannot be complacent about the risk of conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean....
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Turkey has woken up to a traumatic day with 33 Turkish soldiers killed in Idlib overnight by an airstrike reportedly conducted by Syrian jets....
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ANKARA — The June 24 snap presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey will be highly unfair, but real and still competitive....
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On April 16, Turkey will hold a historic referendum on switching from a parliamentary to a presidential political system....
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A key challenge the new U.S. administration will face in the first 100 days is the partnership with Turkey....
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WARSAW—Tomorrow the foreign ministers of Turkey, Poland, and Romania will meet in Warsaw for the first time in this high-level trilateral format....
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There is a sense of foreboding in Ankara regarding Joe Biden’s presidency....
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The Edge of the Cliff...
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ANKARA — Polarization in Turkey is eroding the platform for a pluralistic democracy and paving the way for populist and majoritarian politics, as well...