Counster Project

COUNSTER is an ERC-funded project examining how governments counter radicalization and terrorism by targeting the ties between NSAAs and their constituencies.

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

Pleased to share that @ulaserdogdu's article was shortlisted for the Cedric Smith Prize, which recognizes outstanding peace and conflict research by a PhD candidate👏 The article, published in RIS, is available open access here https://t.co/mzUp4C1uES

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

Our PI @efetokdemir and predoc fellow @ulaserdogdu
attended the Conflict Research Society Annual Conference at the University of Glasgow on 9–10 September. They presented their ongoing work on foreign policy and public opinion, and rebel social origins and dynamics of civil war.

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

Our postdoc fellow, @evirgenyusuff, presented his research titled “From Reports to Data: Harnessing LLMs for Fine-Grained Human Rights Data Collection” at the 2026 Annual Meeting of @APSAtweets, held in Boston, USA, on September 3–6, 2026.

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

👋 Meet @snayenigun, a pre-doctoral researcher.

A 3rd-year PhD candidate in IR at Bilkent, Sena studies international status hierarchies & second-tier states, currently specializing in the role of domestic politics in status-seeking strategies. See our website for details!

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

👋 Meet Gizem Kaya, predoctoral researcher.
Gizem is a PhD candidate in International Relations at Bilkent University. She studies civilian mobilization during armed conflict and peace processes, specializing in computational and geospatial methods.

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

👋 Meet @ulaserdogdu , pre-doc researcher.
A PhD candidate in Political Science at Northwestern, Ulaş studies political violence, civil wars & social science methodology. On COUNSTER, he brings deep expertise in conflict data & multi-method design. See our website for details!

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

👋 Meet Dr. Leo Bauer, post-doc fellow. Leo studies political violence & civil war, from rebel–civilian relations to the roots of rebel groups. He joins COUNSTER from the University of Maryland, blending qualitative & computational methods. 🌍 Head over to our website for details

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

👋 Meet Dr. @evirgenyusuff, post-doctoral fellow.
Yusuf studies state repression, coups & human rights, combining big-data methods with elite interviews & fieldwork. He joins COUNSTER from Binghamton University (SUNY). Head over to our website for details on his research!

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

Our PI @efetokdemir and his co-authors @aslicansunar
and Arzu Kıbrıs have received the @APSAtweets MENA Section’s 2025 Best Paper Award for their paper, “Ethnic Cues and Conflict-Triggered Harassment: Evidence from Soccer Fields.” Congratulations!

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

Meet the COUNSTER team! Led by @efetokdemir, our team brings together postdoctoral and predoctoral researchers with expertise spanning conflict studies, computational social science, and fieldwork. With our incoming team member, Leo Bauer, the picture will be complete soon!

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

🚀 The COUNSTER project website is now live: https://t.co/51iymwkUkR

Curious about what we're building? Head over to our website to explore the project's aims, meet the team, and see what's ahead!

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

Using a mixed-method design that pairs macro-level comparative analysis with micro-level observational and experimental data, COUNSTER seeks to uncover the causal mechanisms behind the divergent outcomes of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism campaigns.

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

The project COUNSTER aims to explain why, how, and when governments target the constituents of non-state armed actors (NSAAs), and what determines the success or failure of these government-constituency relations as a strategic tool in counterinsurgency.

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

COUNSTER aims to deliver a theoretical breakthrough in conflict studies by developing the first comprehensive framework that fully integrates the interactions among governments, armed groups, and their constituencies.

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

Why do some counterinsurgency strategies work while others fail? Over the next five years, our team will study how governments engage with the constituencies of armed groups to alleviate the root causes of the emergence of insurgencies and what makes those efforts succeed or fail

[Counster Project @CounsterProject]

Welcome to the official page of COUNSTER, a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator project hosted at Bilkent University for five years.

Follow us to keep up with the project's research, fieldwork, and findings, and keep an eye out for the launch of our website.