Dr Seyithan Ates is a professor at Ankara University of Social Sciences and as the head of the Department of Economics. He has been actively involved in projects with leading international organizations, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the European Union (EU), where he has contributed as a consultant or country specialist. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Vienna University of Economics and completed his doctoral studies in Social and Economic Sciences at the Vienna University of Technology. 

Colonel Dr Cagri Sagiroglu is a Turkish Army officer with more than twenty years of distinguished service in operational command, strategic planning, and military innovation. As a Research Fellow, he is examining approaches to refine operational planning and thereby sustain competitive military advantage amid multi-domain and hybrid threats. Col. Sagiroglu graduated from Kuleli Military High School (1997) and the Land War Academy (2001) in Türkiye. He completed specialised training in field artillery and commando operations, followed by a master’s degree in international relations. His PhD in Industrial Engineering, conferred jointly by the Universities of Groningen and Çukurova, examined artificial pattern recognition and data mining as tools for regional security challenges at senior decision-making levels. Colonel Sagiroglu currently serves at the National Defence University Army War College.