Dr. Esra Öztürk

Dr. Esra Öztürk is the founder and the Chair of the Board of the Nordic Baltic Institute Association, a think-tank and dialogue platform dedicated to strengthening cooperation between the eight Nordic and Baltic countries and Türkiye through research, knowledge production, and evidence-based policy recommendations. She is also 2026 fellow for the Türkiye-Europe Future Forum, a project of Stiftung Mercator in cooperation with TUSIAD.

Dr. Öztürk is also a researcher, journalist and commentator focusing on foreign policy and international relations. She is renowned for her exclusive interviews with top international officials on recent regional and global issues. Besides her career in media, she worked for the Turkish Government as an adviser, including the Prime Ministry, and the Ministry of National Defense; also served for several diplomatic organizations leading the communications efforts.

Dr. Öztürk was awarded a PhD degree of Journalism by the University of Istanbul with her dissertation titled “Critical Discourse Analysis of Syria Operations by Turkish Armed Forces, in USA And UK Magazines: Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch and Peace Spring”. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Trade and Monetary Management from Marmara University in Istanbul. Early in her career, Dr. Öztürk also completed the “Broadcast Journalism” certificate programme in the New York Film Academy.