Mustafa Sıtkı Bilgin

Mustafa Sıtkı Bilgin (born March 4, 1967, Çaykara, Trabzon) is a Turkish historian, academic and former rector of Artvin Çoruh University, serving from February 6, 2021 to April 10, 2025.

Prof Mustafa Sıtkı Bilgin was born in Çaykara, Trabzon Province, in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. He graduated from Istanbul University, Dept of History in 1989. Then, he received his first MA Degree from Gazi University in Ankara in 1993. Bilgin studied there social and cultural history of Trabzon during 1774-1777 and the practice of the Ottoman Court System based on Ottoman Court Documents. Afterwards he went to the USA and received his second MA Degree from the University of Connecticut, Department of History in 1996. He studied there about American history and foreign policy especially during the Civil War and Reconstruction era. Thereafter he went to the United Kingdom to complete his PhD study. He obtained his Doctoral degree in the field of the Middle East in 2001. Bilgin returned to Turkey and became assistant professor of International History at Kahramanmaras Sütçü İmam University (KSU) in 2002. Bilgin began to work at the Center for Euroasian Strategic Studies, a Turkish think-tank institute based in Ankara, as an expert in the fields of Middle East and Caucasia and EU-Turkey-American relations in 2003.

Later on, Bilgin returned to his university and wrote many articles related to the Middle East, Caucasia, Turkish foreign policy and Anglo-TurkishAmerican relations. His book 'Britain and Turkey in the Middle East: Politics and Influence in the Early Cold War Era' was published by IB Tauris in 2008. Then in 2011 Bilgin became professor of International History at International Dept of Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University. He was the founder and head of the IR Department and took the position of Director of Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies. He published several  books and hundreds of articles related on Turkey's Foreign Policy, Middle East, Cold War, Anglo-Turkish-American Relations, Caucasia and Armenian Issues.

Shortly after starting to work at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University in May 2002, he received the position of assistant professor. Bilgin, who started working at the Armenian Studies Institute in January 2003, served as editor in English and Turkish journals affiliated with the Institute. During this period, he conducted original research in the fields of the Armenian issue, the Cyprus issue, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Turkish-British-American relations, and made significant contributions to diplomatic history literature by writing articles in both domestic and foreign academic journals. He returned to the University in 2004 and received the title of associate professor in the field of Diplomatic History in 2006. His first classic book, was "Britain and Turkey in the Middle East: Politics and Influence in the Middle East in the Early Cold War Era", published in England in 2008 by IB Tauris, one of the international publishing houses in the field of Middle East studies.

Bilgin has long tried to shed light on many issues in the fields of Turkish history and foreign policy with his intensive archival studies. In his book mentioned above, Bilgin not only revealed Turkey's Palestine and Middle Eastern policies during the İnönü and Menderes periods in an original manner, but also produced one of the classic works of Neo-Classical Cold War historiography with an extensive research both in domestic and foreign archives. In this context, he introduced Turkey's 'Triangular Strategy' terminology and paradigm to international literature. Apart from this, it also filled important gaps in various other issues, such as the policy followed by Turkey in the Second World War and the policy followed by Armenia in the Middle East. He also carried out very important archival research on Cyprus. His scientific studies are given in general terms below. Bilgin has 11 books and around 150 articles. Provided by Wikipedia