ASBEN Blog

         Hi everyone, from Bandung, Indonesia!  I am Gizem Bütün, I obtained my B.A in International relations from Gazi University with an honors degree. Due to my high GPA during my bachelor, I also was accepted and completed minor degree in economy in Gazi University as well. First and foremost,   I would like to express my deepest gratitude to The Republic of   Turkey Ministry of National Education (Directorate General for Higher Overseas Education ) for providing scholarship that led the opportunity to improve my academic education. In addition, I would like to thank Ankara Social Sciences University-Regional Studies Institute for the blog platform to share our experiences in abroad. Before moving to Indonesia I lived in USA   for six months and completed Academic Language Course provided by YLSY scholarship   in The University of Alabama in August 2019. At present, I have been living in Indonesia for two years and, I freshly graduated from master program in the department of

 Hi everyone, I am Doruk Işıkçı. I received my bachelor’s degree in the International Relationship Department of Ankara University Political Science Faculty and master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations at TOBB University. Currently, I do conduct my Ph.D. research on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the nation-building process of South Africa. In this regard, while I conduct three case studies through participant observation, data collection from the official statements, and interviews in the targeted CSOs, I also employ survey-based research as complementary data in the various parts of South Africa. My interest in South Africa dates to my bachelor’s degree when I had worked as an intern at the Institute of African Studies of Ankara University. The most important contribution of this process in which several activities and events had been held was making a network with the scholars who study Africa in Turkey. Over the years, my interest in S