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Sevba Abdula was born in 1984 in Skopje. In 2008, he graduated in economics at the University of Ankara. He completed his graduate studies at Istanbul University, in the Department of Political Sciences and International Relations on the topic “Religion and Nationalism: The Case of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Serbian Nationalism. He completed also is doctorate studies in the Department of Political Sciences and International Relations at University of Marmara on the topic “Power, History and Identity:Narrative of Ottoman and Habsburg Emrpire in the Serbian historiography and history textbooks ”.His research is focused on the Balkans, nationalism, religion-state relations, history textbooks and Serbian nationalism.
Born in Istanbul, Koroglu obtained his undergraduate degree in International Relations from Beykent University, after which he completed his master’s degree at Istanbul University. His master’s thesis, titled “Political Liberalism in Turkey in the 1990s,” marked an important contribution to the study of political ideologies. Koroglu achieved a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree at Istanbul University. His doctoral thesis, titled “Translations in the Formation of Islamist Discourse in Turkey,” delved into a critical aspect of political discourse and ideology in the Turkish context. Currently, Dr. Köroğlu serves as a distinguished faculty member at Istanbul University within the Department of Political Science and International Relations.
Vedat Sabri Ahmed was born in 1979 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Sofia Higher Islamic Institute in 2001. He pursued his master’s studies at Trakya University in the department of Balkan Studies. During 2001–2004, he served first as Deputy Chief Editor and then as Chief Editor of the newspaper “Muslims”. Since 2006, he has served in various positions, such as Chief Mufti’s Education Department Responsible, Deputy Grand Mufti, and President of the Supreme Islamic Council. He has been engaged in other activities as a teacher of Ottoman, newspaper editor, editor of the program in Turkish at the Bulgarian National Radio, etc. He is married and the father of four children.
He was born in Greece in 1983. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Marmara, Faculty of Theology, in 2006. He pursued his master’s studies in Hadith at the University of Marmara. Cilingir earned his doctoral degree by defending his dissertation on the subject of “The Theory of the Purpose of Waqf in Hanefite Waqf Law” at the Department of Islamic Law, University of Marmara, in 2014. Cilingir embarked on his career as an educator, serving as a lecturer at a university. Since 2019, he has been an Associate Professor at Sakarya University, Faculty of Theology. He has published several books in the field of Waqf studies and Islamic studies as an author, coauthor, and book reviewer. He speaks Turkish, Arabic, and English. He is married and the father of two sons.
Besnik Emini, born in 1977 in Čellopek, Tetovo, completed his undergraduate studies in the History Department at the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje in 2002. In 2009, he successfully defended his master’s thesis titled “Albanians during the Eastern Crisis and Macedonia (1875-1881).” Subsequently, in 2015, he earned his doctoral degree by defending his dissertation on the subject of the “Albanian Movement (1878-1900)” within the Department of the History of the Balkan Peoples. Mr. Emini embarked on his career as an educator, serving as a history teacher. Since 2008, he has held the position of a scholarly researcher at the Institute of Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Albanians, located in Skopje. His professional contributions extend to active participation in both local and international seminars, conferences, presentations, and research initiatives. Furthermore, Mr. Emini has undertaken the organization of workshops and training sessions tailored to history educators across diverse nations. Notably, he holds membership in the European Association of History Teachers (EUROCLIO) and serves as an ambassador for the organization. Besnik Emini’s scholarly pursuits predominantly revolve around the history of the Balkan peoples during the 19th and 20th centuries. He has played an integral role as a member of the editorial board for multiple esteemed publications, including “Albanological Studies,” “Historical Research,” and the “Albanian Historical Magazine,” which he co-founded and currently leads as the Editor-in-Chief.
In 2009 Shabani graduated from Uludag University, Faculty of Theology. At the same university he finished his master studies in the field of Islamic Law. Currently he pursues his doctorate studies at Marmara University, Department of Islamic Law. He is also interested in topics such as Islamic and Uprising Law, the Albanian uprisings during the Ottoman Empire. He works as assistant professor at Trakya University Faculty of Theology.
She was born in 1977 in Beograd, Serbia. She completed her master’s studies at Beograd University, Faculty of Philology, Department of Eastern Languages and Literature. Currently, she is pursuing her doctoral studies at Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Modern History. She has worked as an archivist, teacher, and assistant. Enisa has been engaged in research projects in the Ottoman Archive of the Prime Minister’s Office and in the Belgrade Archive. She speaks Bosnian, Turkish, English, Arabic, Ottoman, and Russian.
Besir Neziri was born in 1989 in Lipjan, Kosovo. He completed his undergraduate studies at the İstanbul 29 Mayıs Üniversity in the Department of Turkish Language and Literature. He pursued his master’s studies at Marmara University, Turkic Institute, Department of Turkish Language. He furthered his education within the same academic domain, ultimately earning a doctoral degree at Uludag University, Institute of Social Sciences, Turkish Language and Literature. He worked as a translator in the Albanian, Turkish, and Ottoman languages. Currently, he serves as an assistant in the cabinet of the President of the Islamic Union of the Republic of Kosovo.
She was born in 1982 in Sarajevo. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Sarajevo in 2007. Upon graduation, she completed a second Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Sarajevo, with a specialization in Turkish language and Literature. In 2013, she completed her Master’s degree with the same specialization. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Hacettepe University, Institute of Social Sciences, Old Turkish Literature program. In addition to her formal education, she has attended numerous courses in Oriental and Ottoman languages.
Since 2010, she has been working as an archivist in the Sarajevo Historical Archive as head of the Oriental Languages Collection. She is actively engaged in translation from the Turkish language.
She speaks fluent Turkish and Bosnian, conversational English and has a basic knowledge of Arabic, Persian and Russian.
Furkan Abdula was born in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, in 1992. He completed primary and high school in Skopje. Studied in the Information Technologies Department of the International Balkan University. In professional terms he has been active in various sectors such as interpreting, trade, non-governmental organizations, photography and videography. For more than 7 years he worked as Deputy Chief Correspondent in Anadolu Agency’s Albanian and Macedonian News Editorship. He currently works as News & Web Editor at International Balkan University (IBU). Meantime Abdula is also Member of the Board of Directors at the Balkan Studies Foundation (BSF) that works in the field of education, thought and academy. His interests are: photography, video, media, promotion, digital marketing. He is married and has a two daughters.
Zehra A.Sadiki was born in 1999 in Skopje. In 2017, she graduated from “Josip Broz Tito” High School. Currently, she is a student pursuing studies in the Department of Mathematics at “Cyril and Methodius University”. In 2021, She graduated from the “Skopje Academy”. She has demonstrated pedagogical prowess by teaching mathematics courses in different associations and foundations. During 2021 and 2022, she was in charge of Skopje Academy. Between 2021 and 2023, she was a member of the Fettah Efendi Poetry Commission. Since 2023, she has been the Deputy Director of the Balkan Studies Foundation and the secretary of the Abdulfettah Rauf Research Center.