I was born and raised in Ankara, Turkiye. I studied Economics as an undergraduate at the Middle East Technical University. After finishing my degree, I spent some time at the World Bank, which gave me a chance to see how economic research connects with policy. I then came to Oxford for graduate study, completing my DPhil in Economics in 2012. After finishing my doctorate, I returned to Ankara to join the Economics Department at Bilkent University. My career has taken me to several other institutions: I was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Princeton University in 2016–2017, and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics in 2022. I am also a Research Affiliate of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in the International Trade and Regional Economics Programme, and an affiliate of the CESifo Research Network in Munich. My research focuses on international trade and development, and I continue to be motivated by the ways in which economics can shed light on global challenges and help in designing good policies that respond to them.

I teach International Economics and Quantitative Economics.