İştar Gözaydın is a professor of law and politics who received her MCJ (Master of Comparative Jurisprudence) at New York University, School of Law (1987); and Ph.D. at Istanbul University (1992). Gözaydın is a founder member of the executive committee of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly, a human rights organization in Turkey. Professor Gözaydın was a research fellow at the University of London, Birkbeck College in 2009. Gozaydin’s publications include “Management of Religion in Turkey”: the Diyanet and Beyond” in Özgür Heval Çınar &  Mine Yıldırım  (ed.s): Freedom of Religion and Belief in Turkey, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne 2014, 10-35; “Ahmet Davutoğlu: Role as an Islamic Scholar Shaping Turkey’s Foreign Policy” in Nassef Manabilang Adiong (ed.): Islam and International Relations: Diverse Perspectives, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013; “Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı,” in John L. Esposito (ed): Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, Oxford University Press,  February 2009; “The Fethullah Gülen Movement and Politics in Turkey : a chance for Democratization or a Trojan Horse?:” Democratization, vol. 16 no. 6 (December 2009), 1214-1236.