Prof. Dr. Mehmet Hacısalihoğlu was born in Tonya, Trabzon, Turkey. He studied Turkish History at Ankara University and the History of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in Munich, Germany. He completed his master's thesis on The Image of Greece in Turkey (Türk Ansiklopedisi) and earned his PhD with a dissertation on The Young Turks and the Macedonian Question.
He has participated in several research projects in Germany, including Southeast European Toponymies and Comparison of Empires, and led the project The Image of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey in Contemporary History Textbooks in the Balkan and Black Sea Countries in Turkey.
Prof. Hacısalihoğlu is the founding director of the Center for Balkan and Black Sea Studies (BALKAR) at Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul. His primary research interests include the history of the Balkans in the 19th and 20th centuries, Russia, the Caucasus, and the Black Sea region—particularly the history of notables (ayans) in the Black Sea area.
He has published books, edited volumes, and numerous articles on a wide range of topics related to the Ottoman Empire, Balkan history, and the Black Sea region.
Contemporary Balkan History, Late Modern Balkan History, Late Modern Ottoman History