Ilker Kalin

 "Civil Resistance: The Theory and Practice of Nonviolent Action" taught at International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)

My research focuses on the topics of political violence, nonviolent action, gender dynamics, and military socialization. In two ongoing projects, I focus on Turkey as an empirical case.

In the first project, "The LGBTQ+ Participation and Polarization within and outside Collective Dissent in Turkey," I conduct a survey experiment to investigate whether bystanders’ support for police violence and protest demands shifts based on the perceived sexual identity of protesters. Drawing on interviews with activists, I also explore how polarization affects solidarity and alliance-building among different segments of the dissenting community.

A second project considers whether and how U.S. military training exerts a lasting influence on the behaviors and professional networks of Turkish officers. By framing this inquiry at the intersection of international relations, security studies, and military sociology, I highlight how these military-to-military exchanges can shape both bilateral and multilateral relationships among states.