About me

Hello! I am a Lecturer and Research Data Services Specialist at the RDS Department at Georgia State University (GSU) and Affiliate Faculty with the Department of Political Science at GSU. I received my Ph.D. from the [Department of Political Science at SUoliticalscience.gsu.edu/) in Atlanta, Georgia. I received my BA and MA from Political Science and International Relations Department at Bogazici University. My current research agenda focuses on political parties and elections, opposition cooperation and coordination, democratic backsliding, and authoritarian regimes.

My research has been published in the Party Politics, QMMR, Journal of Peace Research, and Journal of Civil Society. My published and working papers can be found on my publications page and Google Scholar. Access my most current CV here.

I am currently working on my book project which addresses the pre-electoral coalitions formed in electoral autocratic regimes. My research on Turkey received the Best Paper Award at ISA-South, Best Fieldwork Award – Honorable Mention from APSA’s Democracy and Autocracy section, and got the 2nd place at 3MT (The Three Minute Thesis) Competition at GSU. My book project has been supported by the William A. Steiger Fund for Legislative Studies of the APSA Centennial Grant, Craigie Fellowship, and GSU’s Library Dissertation Award. See details of my project here.

In my free time, I volunteer at the Carpentries or I like to hike, cook, read, and play tennis or tabletop games.

I can be contacted at otuncelgurlek1 [at] gsu [dot] edu.