Togrul Ismayil is a Professor of Political Science and International Relations and currently serves as Head of the Department of Political History at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University in Turkey. Born in Baku in 1965, he completed his undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral studies at the Faculty of History of Lomonosov Moscow State University. He later pursued graduate studies in Social Structure and Social Change at the Faculty of Economics of Istanbul University, where he also completed his PhD. Prior to his current position, he worked for many years at TOBB University of Economics and Technology.

His research focuses on Russia and the post-Soviet space, particularly Russian state tradition, the “Near Abroad” doctrine, and energy geopolitics. In addition to his academic publications, he frequently appears in television programs and expert panels as a commentator on Russia, the post-Soviet region, and the Turkic world. He has also been awarded a state medal by Azerbaijan for his contributions to Turkey–Azerbaijan relations and studies on the Turkic world.

Toğrul İsmayıl is currently an Analyst and Advisor at the Seoul Institute of Global Affairs (SIGA).