Mustafa Soykut

Prof. Mustafa Soykut is a Professor at the Department of History of Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. His research focuses on cultural-political history of Europe's interactions with the Turks and Islam, the Papacy-Ottoman relations, and the historical image of the Turk in European contexts. He holds a PhD from Universität Hamburg and an MA from Bilkent University.

His work examines Renaissance and Modern Age cultural history, religious histories of India and Asia, and the intersection of political identity formation. Key publications include studies on Italian perceptions of Ottomans using pontifical/Venetian sources (2011), early modern European 'othering' of Turks (2001), and comparative religious dynamics between Christianity-Islam and Brahmanism-Buddhism (2004).

Research themes consistently explore cross-cultural interactions, religious diplomacy, and historical memory. Recent works (2023) analyze theological dialogues between Nicholas of Cusa and Islamic thought. His contributions span multiple languages and include both monographs and edited volumes on Mediterranean and Asian historical contexts.