Dr. Yılmaz holds a PhD in International Relations (2015), a Master's degree in International Relations (2008), and a Master's degree in Women's Studies (2007) from Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences. Her academic work focuses primarily on the Kurdish political sphere, alongside studies on the Middle East, migration, and gender. Her most recent published research focuses on Anatolian Kurds, the Kurdish diaspora, the geopolitics of Kurdistan, and Turkey-Kurdistan Regional Government relations. Dr. Yılmaz's doctoral thesis was published by İletişim Yayınları in 2016 under the title "From Atruş to Maxmur: The Construction of Refugee Identity." Over the past decade, Dr. Yılmaz has conducted academic research at the American University of Duhok (2015-2018), the German Institute for International and Security Relations (2016-2019), the University of Hamburg (2019-2022), and the University of Kurdistan (Erbil) (2022-2026).
