Mira Demirdirek

Mira Demirdirek is a Doctoral Researcher at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), specifically affiliated with the GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies, and a PhD student at the Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen. She has been a member of the GIGA Doctoral Programme since August 2023 and has served as a Research Associate at GIGA since March 2022. Her academic background includes an MA in African Studies from Leiden University and a BA in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Hamburg and the University of Ghana.

• MA in African Studies, Leiden University
• BA in Sociology and Political Science, University of Hamburg and University of Ghana

Her research focuses on Turkish foreign policy in Africa, particularly the (dis)continuities in Turkey's engagement with the continent. She explores how middle powers like Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia shape global orders through their foreign policies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her work intersects with themes of autocratic public diplomacy, transnational displacement, and geopolitical imagination under populist regimes.

Her recent publications analyze non-state actors in autocratic diplomacy and the strengthening ties between Turkey and Iran with African nations amid shifting global dynamics. These works reflect a strong trend in Middle Eastern foreign policy expansion into Africa, grounded in historical analysis and contemporary geopolitical shifts.

She has presented her research at international academic venues such as the European Workshops in International Studies (EISA) and the DAVO Congress. Mira also contributes to academic community building by organizing doctoral conferences and teaching courses on Middle Eastern powers’ foreign policies toward Africa at Philipps-Universität Marburg. She is actively involved in the DFG-funded project Explaining Middle-Power Engagement in External Regions, which conducts a comparative historical analysis of Iranian, Saudi, and Turkish policies in Africa.