Aybars Oztuna has received the IKAR Global Institute’s “25 under 25” award, which recognizes exceptional young global leaders and entrepreneurs. Oztuna joined the IKAR Global Institute, a part of IKAR Holdings, as a Youth Ambassador for Türkiye in October 2022. After two years of service, he was honored with the “25 under 25” award.
Education
Born in Ankara in 1999 to a family of civil servants, Aybars Oztuna completed his primary and secondary education in his hometown. He is the youngest graduate of Cambridge University’s management program. He then moved to Canada on a leadership scholarship to finish his high school education. Selected for the Future Global Leaders Program at the University of British Columbia, he also attended summer school programs at Oxford and Tsinghua universities. Oztuna graduated cum laude with a degree in International Relations and Intelligence Studies from the University of South Florida in just two years with an academic scholarship. During his time at the university, he worked multiple jobs on campus and was an active member of the Golden Key Honor Society, as well as the Phi Chi Theta and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternities. He earned his first Master’s degree in Business Analytics magna cum laude from Hult Business School as an EY scholar and was recognized as the AI leader in the CESA region. After completing the Data Science Executive program, he received his second Master’s degree magna cum laude in Geospatial Intelligence from Johns Hopkins University.
Academia
Oztuna began his teaching career in 2014 as a private tutor. He taught leadership club seminars in high school, served as a university teaching assistant, and in 2022, worked as a researcher at the Department of Public Policy and Global Relations at the University of British Columbia. During his master’s studies, he was a researcher at ETH Zurich and the University of Finland. In 2023, he took on a role as a researcher in All Source Analysis. He is currently an advisor to the Department Chair of International Relations at Cağ University and a lecturer at Istanbul Kent University.
Business & Leadership
Oztuna has held leadership positions for ten consecutive years, including student parliament president, basketball team captain, lead guitarist in a rock band, and debate and MUN leader during his middle school, high school, and university years. In 2014, he founded Canis Majoris, Turkey’s youngest rock band, and received the best camper award at the NBA Ankara camp. He holds a brown belt in Aikido. His private sector career began in 2016, with roles in Vodafone’s digital asset management department, Kloud Trader’s project management department, and an investment banking internship at Vakıfbank. He has held managerial positions in international companies such as Cineplex, Walmart, The Advance Group, World Bank, Walther Kranz, Remax, Gokturk Technologies, and Gerson Lehrman Group. In 2023, he started as an international lead auditor and continues to work as a managing partner at Oztuna & Partners, auditor at Ernst & Young, and Head of Geoint & Turkey Representative at Geostrata.
Politics & Policy
Oztuna began his political career in 2017 after being invited by Meral Akşener to join the IYI Party. He became Ankara’s youngest deputy candidate in the 2018 elections. He served as the advisor to the president from 2017 to 2020 and as the head of global affairs under the youth policies department from 2020 to 2022. In 2023, he completed internships in advisory roles at the UAE Embassy, the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, and the 11th Presidency Office. He currently works as a pro-bono policy consultant at Adana, Ankara, and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipalities and leads projects at the Istanbul Planning Agency, Başkent Gençlik Meclisi, and Adana Municipality’s strategic planning team.
Memberships & Fellowships
Oztuna is a member of Chatham House, the International Political Science Association, the American Economic Association, the Council of Europe, Turkish Hearths, and a Political Leadership Excellence Fellow at Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. He is also a McKinsey Forward Fellow, a citizen juror at the European Capital of Democracy, an IKAR Global Institute youth ambassador, a youth fellow at the International Republican Institute, a John Galt School Fellow, and the founder & CEO of the Geospatial Intelligence Institute.
Volunteer Work, Publications & Media
A philanthropist, Oztuna has established and served more than ten NGOs, contributing over $200K to direct causes. An autodidact polyglot and author, he has written five books, produced two albums, and published six scientific peer-reviewed articles, in addition to over a hundred other articles. He writes weekly columns for Fikirtepe and Milli Düşünce Merkezi and hosts weekly YouTube programs.