BAU 2nd INTERDISCIPLINARY REGIONAL STUDIES CONFERENCE CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS

CALL FOR PAPERS

6-7 May 2027 · Bahçeşehir University, Beşiktaş South Campus, Istanbul

Bahçeşehir University’s Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences has chosen Central Asia and the Caucasus as the theme of the second edition of its Interdisciplinary Regional Studies Conference.

After more than three decades of independence, Central Asia and the Caucasus have moved from the periphery of international politics to become a space that generates its own institutional forms. The reshaping of transport corridors, the progress of normalisation in the South Caucasus, the deepening of regional cooperation formats, global competition over critical minerals and energy resources, growing water- and climate-related vulnerabilities, and accelerating digital transformation all call for rethinking the region from both theoretical and applied perspectives.

Rather than approaching this transformation from the perspective of a single discipline, the conference aims to address it within a holistic framework that brings together political science and international relations, economics, business, logistics, sociology, psychology and history. The region is defined geographically and covers the Central Asian republics as well as the South and North Caucasus.

By bringing together researchers, experts and graduate students working on the region, the conference seeks to create a productive, deliberative and interdisciplinary academic platform.

Themes

The conference is organised around the following seven themes. Applicants are required to select the theme to which their paper relates. The topics listed under each theme are indicative; other original contributions within the scope of the relevant theme are also welcome.

1. Security, Conflict and Peacebuilding

Post-conflict normalisation, border delimitation and confidence-building measures
Regional security architectures and great power competition
Security spillover from Afghanistan, border and migration security
Defence industry cooperation and military modernisation
Cybersecurity and information warfare
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): capacity, functionality and transformation
Overlapping memberships and institutional selectivity in regional security organisations

2. Connectivity, Transport and Supply Chains

Capacity, bottleneck and transit time analyses of the Middle Corridor
Multimodal transport, port and terminal investments
Customs procedures, border crossing processes and digital customs applications
Supply chain resilience and risk management
The impact of sanctions regimes on route and cost choices
Green corridor practices and carbon footprint

3. Economic Transformation, Development and Finance

Natural resource dependence, diversification and industrial policy
Critical minerals, commodity markets and pricing
Macroeconomic and household-level effects of remittance flows
Monetary policy, dollarisation and financial stability
Capital market development, sovereign wealth funds, Islamic finance
Labour markets, inequality and poverty
Regional economic integration: the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Economic cooperation and financial mechanisms within the Organization of Turkic States (OTS)
Relations with global governance institutions: the OECD, WTO, IMF and World Bank
Alignment with international standards and regulatory frameworks

4. Markets, Firms and the Investment Environment

Market entry strategies and foreign direct investment decisions
Family businesses, SMEs and entrepreneurial ecosystems
Corporate governance and compliance with accounting and reporting standards
Cross-cultural management and comparative organisational culture
International marketing, branding and consumer behaviour
Tourism and service management
ESG, sustainability and corporate responsibility

5. Digital Transformation and Technology Policy

E-government applications and digital public services
Fintech, payment infrastructures and digital financial inclusion
Data infrastructures, data localisation and platform regulation
Artificial intelligence policies and regional cooperation initiatives
Digital authoritarianism, surveillance and freedom of expression

6. Energy, Environment and Climate

Transboundary water management, the Aral and the Caspian
Glacier loss, drought and agricultural vulnerability
Energy policy, renewable energy and transmission infrastructure
Nuclear energy programmes and energy security
Climate finance, environmental justice and ecological migration

7. Society, Migration, Identity and Gender

Labour migration, return migration and left-behind households
Diaspora communities, belonging and transnational ties
Acculturation, migrant mental health and cross-cultural psychology
Gender regimes, women's representation and legal frameworks
Urbanisation, youth and social movements
Language policy, alphabet reform, historiography and memory
Civil society organisations and state–civil society relations
International NGOs, development aid and engagement with local actors
Cultural policy, cultural heritage and sites of memory
Cultural diplomacy and soft power
Cultural and social dimensions of regional integration

Submission

Individual paper proposals, either single- or co-authored, may be submitted to the conference.

Abstract format

Abstracts should be 300-500 words in total and structured under the following four headings:

Section	Content
Aim and research question	The question the study addresses and its regional context
Place in the literature and original contribution	The argument of the study and how it differs from the existing literature
Method, data or sources	For empirical studies, the dataset, period covered and method; for theoretical, historical and interpretive studies, the approach adopted and the primary sources used
Findings and conclusion	The findings obtained; for work in progress, expected findings may be stated

Applicants are also asked to provide a paper title in English, 4-6 keywords, the selected theme and the language of presentation.

Presentations may be delivered in Turkish or English. Submissions will be accepted only via the online form.

Click here to submit

Review process

All submissions will be evaluated through double-blind peer review by a scientific committee composed of academics affiliated with institutions in different countries, with at least two reviews obtained for each paper.

Important dates

Abstract submission deadline	31 January 2027
Notification of acceptance	19 February 2027
Registration opens	20 February 2027
Registration closes	15 March 2027
Publication of the conference programme	15 April 2027
Conference	6-7 May 2027

Academic recognition

As its scientific committee is composed of academics affiliated with institutions in different countries and all papers are accepted following scientific review, the conference meets the definition of an “international scientific meeting” set out in the associate professorship (doçentlik) application requirements of Türkiye’s Interuniversity Board (ÜAK).

Registration

Following acceptance, the registration fee of 3,000 TRY should be paid to the bank account provided in the acceptance e-mail, and the payment receipt should be sent to bau.irsc@bau.edu.tr. Master’s and doctoral students are exempt from the registration fee.

Registration is considered complete once the payment receipt has been received. Fees are non-refundable.

Venue

The conference will be held in person at Bahçeşehir University’s Beşiktaş South Campus (Çırağan Caddesi, Osmanpaşa Mektebi Sokak No: 4-6, 34353 Beşiktaş, Istanbul). All sessions and panels will take place in halls on campus, and the detailed programme will be shared with participants ahead of the conference.

Committees

Organising Committee

Prof. Dr. Hümeyra ADIGÜZEL

Prof. Dr. Çağla Gül YESEVİ

Asst. Prof. Dr. Günce Sabah ERYILMAZ

Res. Asst. Dr. Deniz MÜEZZİNOĞLU

Res. Asst. Elif DURSUN YİĞİT

Asst. Specialist Gaye GÜNER

Advisory Board

Prof. Dr. Yunus Emre GÜRBÜZ, Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, Kyrgyzstan

Prof. Dr. Jarmo VAKKURI, Tampere University, Finland

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Görkem ATSUNGUR, American University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aigul ERMEKOVA, KIMEP University, Kazakhstan

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shoirakhon NURDINOVA, Kimyo International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Orkhan VALIYEV, Khazar University, Azerbaijan

Asst. Prof. Dr. Serdar DAĞISTAN, Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, Kyrgyzstan

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mustafa GİRİTLİOĞLU, Khoja Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University, Kazakhstan

Asst. Prof. Dr. Sandro TABATADZE, Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Dr. Murad CANBULUT, De Montfort University, United Kingdom

Dr. Aida IBRICEVIC, Linköping University, Sweden

Dr. Şahika VATAN, California State University, East Bay, USA

Dr. Esin YÜCEL, University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom

Scientific Committee

Prof. Dr. Alpaslan AKAY, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Esra ALBAYRAKOĞLU, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Mehmet ÇELİK, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Şefik İstemihan DEMİRAĞ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Yılmaz ESMER, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Yunus Emre GÜRBÜZ, Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, Kyrgyzstan

Prof. Dr. Seyfettin GÜRSEL, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Nilüfer NARLI, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Selcen ÖNER, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Mine ÖZAŞÇILAR ÖZTÜRK, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Ulaş SUNATA, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Jarmo VAKKURI, Tampere University, Finland

Prof. Dr. Pınar Melis YELSALI PARMAKSIZ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Çağla Gül YESEVİ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Hakan YILMAZ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Çağlar YURTSEVEN, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül AKDEMİR, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Görkem ATSUNGUR, American University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Damla BAYRAKTAR AKSEL, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yüksel Alper ECEVİT, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aigul ERMEKOVA, KIMEP University, Kazakhstan

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Derya GÜRSES TARBUCK, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shoirakhon NURDINOVA, Kimyo International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kaan ÖĞÜT, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rahime SÜLEYMANOĞLU KÜRÜM, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deren ÜNALMIŞ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Orkhan VALIYEV, Khazar University, Azerbaijan

Asst. Prof. Dr. Levent AKSOY, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Serdar DAĞISTAN, Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, Kyrgyzstan

Asst. Prof. Dr. Burak DOĞAN, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Bora ERDAMAR, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Günce Sabah ERYILMAZ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mustafa GİRİTLİOĞLU, Khoja Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University, Kazakhstan

Asst. Prof. Dr. Gökhan Şahin GÜNEŞ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. İlhan Zeynep KARAKILIÇ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Deena SALEH ŞAHİN, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Firuze Simay SEZGİN, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Dimitar Asenov SIMEONOV, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Sandro TABATADZE, Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Asst. Prof. Dr. Nuran Feryal TANSUĞ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Zekeriya TÜZEN, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Yasemin ÜLKER, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Serkan YEŞİLYURT, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Atakan YILMAZ, Bahçeşehir University, Türkiye