The Harriman Institute and the Sakıp Sabancı Center for Turkish Studies were delighted to host a talk with Sam Hirst, Assistant Professor of International Relations at Bilkent University, Ankara. Professor Hirst discussed the similarities between the new Kemalist and Soviet Republics, arguing that their overlapping views on ethnicity and geography shaped Soviet-Turkish exchanges in the 1920s.
Prior to joining Bilkent, Professor Hirst worked at the European University at St. Petersburg, where he served for two years as department chair. He is currently completing a manuscript on Soviet-Turkish relations in the interwar period. His work has appeared, among other places, in Kritika, Slavic Review, and Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
