Academic, Foreign Policy Analyst and Journalist with broad work experience as executive director, bureau chief, columnist, and editor. Experience includes executive directorship of the Washington-based Turkish think tank, SETA Foundation as well as Washington bureau chief of Turkish media outlets such as STAR, CNN Türk, Haber24. Publications and appearances in major media outlets including BBC, Washington Times, Al-Jazeera English, Al-Jazeera Arabic, Open Democracy, The National and Foreign Policy. Yilmaz worked for Al Jazeera Türk as Head of Quality Assurance. He is currently teaching at Marmara University, Foreign News Editor at Star Newspaper and Visiting Fellow at European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). He is a member of IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies).
EXPERIENCE
Producer and Presenter, Brifing Odası (Briefing Room), 24TV, January 2013-August 2013. Weekly TV Show focuses on Foreign Policy and Security issues aired on Thursdays 22.15 local time.
Lecturer, Marmara University, Istanbul. — January 2012- August 2013. Teaching Communication Theories and Introduction to Communication at Marmara University, one of the significant public universities in Istanbul.
Foreign News Coordinator, Star Newspaper, Istanbul. — September 2012-August 2013. Manages, Edits and Directs the flow of foreign News. and provides occasional analysis for STAR Newspaper, Istanbul based Turkish daily newspaper.
Visiting Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations, Sept 2012-June 2013. Visiting Fellow at MENA Programme at ECFR, London based not for profit pan-European think tank with 7 offices around Europe.
Head of Quality Assurance, Al Jazeera Turk, Istanbul. — August 2011- February 2012, Responsible for the Editorial content and Quality of News, Programs and Web sections, Turkish channel of Al Jazeera Network.
Director, SETA Foundation, Washington, D.C. — December 2008 – July 2011, Executive Director of SETA Foundation at Washington D.C., a 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank based in Washington, D.C. with focus on US-Turkey relations and Turkish foreign policy.
Bureau Chief, ATV, Washington, D.C. — June 2010 – July 2011, Washington Bureau Chief for the national TV channel, ATV
Bureau Chief, CNN Türk, Washington, D.C. — September 2009 – May 2010, Washington Bureau Chief for the national 24-hour TV news channel, CNN Türk
Freelance Journalist, Washington, D.C. — December 2008 – September 2009, Conducted interviews for TV news-documentaries including Amb. Nicholas Burns, Noam Chomsky, Stephen Walt, Amb. Mark Parris, and Dhroruba bin Wahhad
Adjunct Professor, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA — Fall 2007 – Spring 2008, Taught undergraduate courses on “Aesthetics” and “Critical Theory”
Bureau Chief, STAR & 24, Washington, D.C. — November 2006 – December 2008, Washington Bureau Chief for the Turkish daily STAR and 24-hour TV news channel24
Columnist, STAR, Washington, D.C. — November 2006 – February 2008, Weekly Columnist for the Turkish daily newspaper, STAR
EDUCATION
George Mason University, Cultural Studies, Fairfax, VA — PhD, Summer 2011 (Expected) Working title of the dissertation, “Political Economy of Icons: ‘Iconoclasm’ in Eurocentric Art Discourse,”
Trent University, Theory, Culture, and Politics, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada — MA, Fall 2001 – Present Working dissertation title, “Icon-form and Calligraphy: Toward a General Economy of the Image”
Bilkent University, Graphic Design, Ankara, Turkey — MFA, Summer 2001 Thesis title, “Icon-Form: The Differential Logic of the Aniconism in the Islamic Tradition”
Middle East Technical University, Sociology, Ankara, Turkey — BS, Spring 1999
Marmara University, Political Science (Instruction in French), Istanbul, Turkey — BA, Spring 1994
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, “Reading, Innovating and Negotiating: Critical Skills for Public Sector Executives,” Certificate Program
Georgetown University, Center for Public and Non-Profit Leadership, “Non-Profit Executive Management Certificate”