Dr. Kemal Kaya is co-founder of East and West Institute. He is an aeronautical engineer by training with a Ph. D. from Istanbul Technical University. He has a decade-long experience in the Turkish Defense Industry, and has been the co-ordinator of numerous international defense projects for the Turkish armed forces/government?. He has also spent time as a visiting researcher at the Central Asia Caucasus Institute of the John Hopkins University - SAIS in Washington D.C. where he wrote several articles with focus on security issues on Turkey and the wider region. Currently, he is a senior administrator/ manager in the Turkish Parliament