Öz Geçmiş

Born in Samsun, İlyas TOPSAKAL completed his primary education in the İstasyon neighborhood and his secondary education at Samsun Imam Hatip High School. In 1989, he enrolled in the Erciyes University Faculty of Theology, and he graduated in 1994. He began his master's degree at the Marmara University Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Islamic History and Arts, in the same year. Simultaneously, he became a research assistant at the Faculty of Theology, Department of Islamic History, at Çukurova University. While pursuing his master's degree from 1997 to 1999, he resided in Kazakhstan and Russia to enhance his skills and expertise in Turkish History and Turks in Russia and to learn the Russian language and Turkish dialects. Meanwhile, he was responsible for the Turkish World Studies Foundation in the region and conducted his research with the foundation's support. After returning to Turkey, he completed his master's degree with his thesis titled “Idyll Bulgarians and Islam in the X-XIIth Centuries”; in the same year, he started his doctorate education at Marmara University Institute of Social Sciences. In 2007, he completed his doctorate, which entitled "Orthodox missionary activities and the Turks in the region of Idyll-Ural according to Russian missionary sources." Based entirely on the records of the Russian Orthodox Church, this work has been appreciated as a reference work in the field in libraries all over the world. Between 1997 and 2007, while continuing his education, Topsakal conducted field research in Kazakhstan, Siberia, and many other regions, especially at Kazakh State University for two years.  After completing his doctorate, he worked as an assistant at Adana Çukurova University for a short period of time; in 2008, he was appointed as a PhD research assistant at Istanbul University, Faculty of Theology, Department of World Religions. He was the first academic to be appointed to this department, which was the first in Turkey, but when it was closed down, he was transferred back to the Department of Islamic History and Arts. In the meantime, on his journey of learning about Western sources and systems, he completed his post-doctorate on the Russian Missionary Ilminsky and his System at the History Department of the University of Reading in the England between 2009 and 2010; at the request of the university, he stayed on for another year to give master's and doctoral seminars. After returning to Turkey from England in 2011, he applied for associate professorship and became an associate professor in the field of General Turkish History in June 2012. The main focus of his associate professorship is his research on the history of Siberia, and he is among the first academics in Turkey to specialize in this field. He has collaborated with numerous academics who specialize in the Altai, Tuva Khakass, and Yakut regions within the Siberian Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and these initiatives have been published under the title "History of Siberia." When he was appointed as a lecturer at Istanbul University Faculty of Letters, Department of History in 2016, he started the first courses on Siberian History and Culture in Turkey. From January 2018 to 2023, İlyas Topsakal, who was appointed as a professor in December 2017, served as the head of the General Turkish History and Ukrainian Language Departments at Istanbul University Faculty of Letters. From 2019 to 2023, he served as the Vice Rector of Istanbul University. He also gave lectures on his subject at National Defense University ATASAREN. In 2023, he entered politics and became the 28th term MHP Samsun Deputy of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. He is also the MHP's Deputy Chairman for Turkish World and Foreign Relations. 

He has many articles on the Turkic World in popular journals. He was also the editor of the Journal of Turkish World Studies for 10 years between 2003-2013. Between these dates, as the R&D Manager of the Turkish World Research Foundation, he worked as an executive and researcher in many projects abroad and gave conferences for the public and students in many parts of Turkey. He speaks English, Russian, Arabic and Turkish dialects. He has 5 published books titled “According to Russian Missionary Sources Russian Tsardom and Turks (1552-1917)”, “Idyll Bulgarians and Islam”, “History of Siberia”, “Turks in Russia”, “Turkey-Turkish World Relations”. His works on Russian History and the History of Siberia are used as basic reference materials in Turkish universities. He has also edited several books, including “Contemporary Russo-Turkish Relations: From Crisis to Cooperation”. In addition, there are book chapters in many languages within the basic works specific to the field; “A History of Russian-Turkish Relations: From the Ottoman Empire Period to the End of the Soviet Era”, “Turkey-Russia Relations: Harmony of National Interests”, “An Essay on the History and Culture of Shor”, “The Change of Demographic Structure in the Idyll Ural Region in Favor of Turks and Ways of Solution” etc. He has also published numerous articles such as “Gordian Knot in Central Asia Regional Security Complex: A Multi-Vector Analysis”, “Russia-Turkey Relations in the Historical Process”, “Islam in Russia” etc. in various journals in different languages. He has also been awarded by many organizations.

In addition to his academics, he has years of experience on the quality and sustainability of education abroad. His work “Russian Tsardom and the Turks” contains the history of Russian-centered education and reveals the reaction of Muslims to this education. Beside, he’s work named “History of Siberia” focuses on past educational models. 

He is married and has two daughters, İdil and İlim.