Yunus Turhan is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University and serves as the Director of the African Civilization Research and Application Center at the same institution. He earned his master’s degree from Hacettepe University, focusing on the role of leadership in the national reconciliation process, with a particular emphasis on South Africa. Dr. Turhan completed his doctorate with honours at Middle East Technical University (METU) in 2019, during which he was a visiting research fellow at Oxford University Department of International Development, affiliated with the “Changing Structures of Islamic Authority and Consequences for Social Change: A Transnational Review (CSIA)” project funded by the European Research Council (ERC). Dr. Turhan’s extensive academic background includes living and studying in South Africa, contributing to humanitarian projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, and studying in Lithuania under the Erasmus Mundus Student exchange programme. His current research areas encompass Turkey-Africa relations, non-state actors in politics, development studies, foreign aid politics, faith-based and secular NGOs, and peace and conflict studies. His publications have appeared in reputable journals such as “Third World Quarterly,” “Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies,” “Diplomacy and Statecraft,” “Development Policy Review,” and others.