Göktuğ Kara graduated from TED Ankara College in 1994. Mr. Kara enrolled in the international relations department of Bilkent University with a scholarship. After his graduation, he was awarded a British Chevening scholarship to continue his studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science University. He graduated with success in 1999 and wrote a thesis on the possible repercussions of Türkiye’s exclusion from the EU enlargement process. Despite obtaining a scholarship and acceptance for a PhD study at the LSE, he preferred to return to Türkiye in 2000 and started working for BOTAS, the State Pipeline Corporation of Türkiye. In his assignment, Mr. Kara coordinated the implementation of a host government agreement related to the execution of the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline Project in Türkiye. Currently, he is working at the European Union Delegation to Türkiye as the responsible program manager for transport policy and infrastructure investments. He is also a part-time academic member of the international relations department of Bilkent University, delivering a lecture on sustainable development and climate change. Mr. Kara has so far been instrumental in upholding many reforms in the transport sector to align with EU policies. Mr. Kara holds a PhD in international relations from Bilkent University. He studied Russia’s transformation in the post-Cold War period, with a particular focus on the energy sector and its relationship to Russian foreign policy engagements.