The Department trains specialists in the field of international relations. The name of the Department, which was “The Section of Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs (Political Section)” during the years 1955-1982 was renamed as “The Department of International Relations” in 1982 under the framework of the new Law of Higher Education.

Department of International Relations is made up of three different sections;

Diplomatic History
International Law
International Relations


The graduates from the four-year program of International Relations are awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the Department of International Relations of the Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University. The first two years of the program offer common courses with the other departments, and third and fourth years are composed mostly of the departmental courses. The departmental courses provide students competence in the history, structure, and mechanism of international relations, transformation, and legal framework of international system and Turkey’s position within this system and its foreign affairs.

The Department, that is also an integral part of the Graduate School of Social Science, offers the following graduate programs:

International Relations Masters Program
International Relations Non-thesis Masters Program
International Relations African Studies Masters Program
International Relations Doctorate Program


There is a Center of International Economic and Political Research within the Department.

Since 1960, the Department publishes The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations, which is the first academic journal in the world that combines IR and Turkish Studies in English. 

Additionally, the Department members serve in academic and executive positions in the following research centers of Ankara University:

European Research Center (ATAUM)
Center for Southeast European Studies (GAMER)

Employment opportunities for IR graduates are quite extensive. Graduates work as international relations specialists in the public sector, especially in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of European Union, the Ministry of Economics, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In addition, IR graduates are also employed in the private sector, media, the finance sector and international organizations

The educational goal of the International Relations undergraduate programme is to train graduates who: have theoretical and factual knowledge on International Politics, Diplomatic History and International Law sub-fields of International Relations discipline and to have the ability to use this knowledge; will be able to make a career in the public sector and international organisations, especially in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; will be able to work in the private sector, especially in multinational companies; will have the qualifications to pursue graduate studies and academic careers in International Relations and other fields of social sciences; will be able to take part in national and international non-governmental organisations and initiatives with their knowledge and analytical skills.

Provide to have theoretical and methodological knowledge about the social sciences. Have theoretical, historical and actual knowledge about the international politics, international relations theory, diplomatic history and international law which are the main pillars of the International Relations discipline. Teach to define and analyze the historical and current questions. Teach to make research about the historical and current questions and express them in verbal and written ways.

Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gökçen ALPKAYA E-mail : alpya@polcs.aara.edu.tr CV :

Associate Prof. Dr. Buket ÖKTEN SİPAHİOĞLU E-mail : okten@ankara.edu.tr CV :