I have studied geography at the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail, and political geography at the University of Marne-La-Vallée and Paris IV (France). I gained my PhD in Political Geography at the University of Paris IV- Sorbonne in 2005. My PhD thesis addressed the question of the development of a Kurdish field of literature in the context of language conflict in Turkey. I also graduated in Kurdish Language and Civilisation at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) in Paris in 2003.

I taught geography at the INALCO from 2003 to 2007, when I joined the University of Exeter.

Between 2014 and 2016 I was in Istanbul, serving as the director of contemporary studies at the IFEA (French Institute for Anatolian Studies).

My research interests include the following:

- ethnicity and field of cultural production

- cultural heritage, space, and identity

- Kurdish literatures and translation

- environment, ecological mobilisation, and rurality.

I mainly conduct research in Turkey, Kurdistan, and in the diaspora

For office hours and research leave go here.

Other information:

I am an associate member of the CETOBAC (Centre d'Etudes Turques, Ottomanes, Balkaniques et Centrasiatiques) EHESS, Paris and a member of the BRISMES.

I am member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Turkish Studies

I work 0.55 FTE at the University of Exeter. The rest of the time, I run St Thomas Community Garden and am a director of Zero Mile Gardens CIC.

Research supervision:

I am happy to supervise students working on the following areas:

- Field of cultural production, identity politics, and development in Turkey and Kurdistan

- Heritage policies, space and identity in Turkey and Kurdistan

- Sociological and geographical approaches to Kurdish literature and translation

- Rurality & Ecology in Turkey and Kurdistan

I am also happy to co-supervise similar researches on other parts of the Middle East, and comparative studies where appropriate.