Erdoğan Aykaç is senior lecturer Conflict Studies at the department of Interdisciplinaire Sociale Wetenschappen. He obtained his PhD at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen within International Relations and International Organization. In his dissertation, ‘Constructing Turkey as a bridge in parliamentary discourses’, he researched the constitution of Turkey’s identity and geopolitical role from both a Turkish and European perspective. Thereto, he focused on the use of geography, culture, and history in discursive practices of political elites.

His research spanned diasporic communities in Europe and related questions of in-betweenness and colonial afterlives. That area of expertise was also part of his previous position, as senior curator Migration, Collections and the City at the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden and Rotterdam. In that position he aimed to tell new and different narratives on the (‘historical’ and ‘contemporary’) collections through collaboration with communities and artists. More specifically, he dealt with questions on how migrant communities shape postcolonial European cities and societies and vice versa, thereby connecting the global with the local; the urban with the communal.

Aykaç’s research interests and expertise on social/geopolitical issues, particularly with regard to Turkey, and the intersection with culture, heritage and materiality are not only returning in his current position as lecturer, but also in his role as external advisor. In that capacity he provides lectures, training and advice to various institutions, such as municipalities, ministries and other (semi)governmental agencies. He is also affilated with the Wereldmuseum in the Netherlands as a researcher. In addition, he joined the Advisory Board of Kunstmuseum Den Haag in 2025.