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Esra Çuhadar
Senior Research Associate
Dr. Esra Çuhadar is an Associate Professor at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, and Head of Research at the Ottawa Dialogue, at the University of Ottawa, Canada. With over 30 years of experience in mediation, dialogue
Last reviewed: 2026/07/15
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Dr. Esra Çuhadar is an Associate Professor at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, and Head of Research at the Ottawa Dialogue, at the University of Ottawa, Canada. With over 30 years of experience in mediation, dialogue facilitation, and conflict assessment, she was appointed in 2023 to the UN Standby Team of Senior Mediation Advisers as a process design and inclusion expert. Her research focuses on inclusive peace processes, mediation, track-two diplomacy, civil society in peacebuilding, and political leadership, with nearly 50 publications in leading journals such as Political Psychology and Journal of Peace Research . Dr. Çuhadar has received numerous awards, including the BAGEP Young Scientist Award (2013), Fulbright Senior Scholarship (2011), and the Jennings Randolph Senior Research Fellowship at USIP (2018). She has advised the UN, World Bank, OSCE, and USIP, supporting mediation and dialogue initiatives in Afghanistan, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, Middle East, and Africa. She has also served as a senior expert on dialogue and inclusion at the United States Institute of Peace (2020-2023), a regional mediator for the World Bank (2011-2020), advisor to the OSCE (ongoing), and as a senior research fellow at Inclusive Peace.