This research project aims at identifying the economic foundations of this transborder policy as well as the way in which this policy contributes to the emergence of a coherent economic space between Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. This research examines the state’s economic action in Turkey’s neighborhood, the restructuration of the regional economy, and the transformation of businessmen’s associations and individual practices.
Yohanan Benhaim is a PhD candidate in political science at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University specializing in foreign policy. In his PhD dissertation, he explores the evolution of Turkish foreign policy towards Kurdish regions in Iraq and Syria (1990 – 2017). Between 2012 and 2016, Yohanan conducted field research in Ankara, Diyarbakır, and Erbil. His research focuses on the transformation of civil-military relations and on the role of private actors in the foreign policy making process. Yohanan is also the co-founder and co-director of Noria, a think tank based on a community of researchers specialized in international politics. He is an associate researcher at the Center for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkanic, and Centrasiatic Studies (CETOBAC, EHESS) and at the French Institute for Anatolian Studies (IFEA, Istanbul).