Mehmet Kalyoncu is a political officer at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York. Primarily covering peace and security issues, his portfolio includes counterterrorism, countering and preventing violent extremism, preventive diplomacy, mediation, conflict resolution, and peace building. Previously, Mehmet worked as a political analyst for Zaman US Daily. He has published scholarly articles in academic journals and op-ed pieces in newspapers and online publications. His writings have appeared among others in the Foreign Policy Magazine, Balkanalysis, Caspian Business News, Zaman US Daily, Today’s Zaman, Zinda Magazine, Power and Interest Report (PINR), American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Journal of Central Asia and the Caucasus, and Centro Argentino de Estudios Internacionales. Currently working on this doctoral thesis, Mehmet investigates the impact of multilateral responses to international terrorism on international relations. Mehmet has authored two books, titled respectively A Civilian Response to Ethno-Religious Conflict: Gulen Movement in Southeast Turkey (New Jersey: Tughra Books 2008), and Reflections on Turkey: Turkish-American-Israeli Relations and the Middle East (New Jersey: Blue Dome Press 2013). He holds a MS in Management & Administrative Sciences from University of Texas at Dallas with specialization in Organization and Strategic Management and MA in Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Mehmet is a member of the United Nations Association of the United States (UNA-USA), and Georgetown Club of Metropolitan New York.
