ERDAL TATLI

Erdal TATLI is a retired staff colonel from the Turkish Army. He graduated from the Army Military Academy in Ankara as first lieutenant with a bachelor's degree in military science. He first saw service as platoon and mechanized infantry company leader in Turkish Cypress and Eastern and Southeastern Turkey, and security company commander in NATO Headquarters/Izmir, Turkey. After graduating from the Army Staff College and Turkish Armed Forces College, he served as G2 and G3 in various brigades. After serving as a battalion commander, he was appointed to NATO Headquarters/Izmir in 1995 as G2 planning branch chief.

In 1997, he became the TAF representative to the MPRI mission in Sarajevo, which was responsible for training and equipping Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina's armed forces. The following year, he was appointed to the AFSOUTH - NAPLES Headquarters as land branch chief in CJ3. He was responsible for planning and executing land operations in Kosovo. From 2001 until his retirement in 2005, he served as a branch chief and deputy chief of staff for NATO's Rapid Deployable Corps/Istanbul. During this time, he also served as chief of civil-military cooperation (CJ9) for ISAF VI Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. He received three NATO medals for his service in NATO operations in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

While serving in the Turkish Army, he earned a bachelor's degree in law from Ankara University and he is still a registered lawyer in the Istanbul Bar. He also holds four master's degrees: in international affairs, national and international security, management, and Turkish Revolution History, from the Army and Armed Forces Staff College in Istanbul. Before coming to the Groningen University to complete his doctoral thesis, he was a PhD Student at Marmara University European Union Institute in Istanbul.

He is fluent in Turkish, English, and understanding level French. He is an active athlete in skiing, tennis and table tennis, a musician, and a skilled bridge and chess player.

Expertise: Islam and Democracy, Civil-Military Relations, EU Law and Institutions, History of the Ottoman and Turkish Republic, Military and security affairs, the Balkans, Middle East and Afghanistan.