Professor Muslu is a scholar and practitioner specializing in applied ethnomusicology, music in higher education, and cultural sustainability at Zhaoqing University, China. She has held diverse leadership roles as an educator, culture and arts coordinator, and curriculum developer, employing both formal and non-formal educational approaches to foster the artistic growth of young musicians, dancers, music experts, and industry professionals. As one of the founding directors of Antioch State Conservatory from 2017 to 2022, she contributed to shaping, structuring, and developing a Bachelor`s Degree Program in Turkish Music at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University. In February 2023, in response to the devastating earthquake in southeastern Türkiye, she co-founded MİRAS Centre for Cultural Sustainability in Istanbul, an NGO dedicated to preserving and promoting cultural heritage in post-disaster zones, working with experts in this field from across the world. Her research projects have been supported by the British Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Society for Education, Music, and Psychology Research (SEMPRE), and the British Institution. Her work is published with leading academic presses such as Oxford University Press, Sage Publications, and Taylor & Francis. She is an Executive Member of the International Council for Traditional Music and Dance (ICTMD) Study Group on Applied Ethnomusicology, from where she actively contributes to advancing the field. Meanwhile, she maintains an ongoing academic affiliation with the University of Kent in the UK. In addition to her academic and institutional roles, she continues to deliver conferences, lectures, and workshops on a global scale.

“The goals of the MİRAS are in perfect harmony with my values: to mobilize the living cultural heritage and creativity of communities in an effective and sustainable way; to integrate them better in society; and to improve individual welfare. I have always been passionate about working in this field: for my own country, and for all other societies that face losing their culture. As someone who has been working in the field of culture for many years, I believe that I can contribute to the mission of our uniquely important city like Hatay being reborn from its dust and ashes.”

Özlem TAŞKAPILIOĞLU was born in 1974 in Komotini, Greece. She graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 1998. In 2004, she completed her specialization training at Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology. She worked as a neurologist at the same university until 2011. She became an assistant professor in 2011 and an associate professor in 2014 and worked as a faculty member at Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology between 2011-2017 and as a neurology specialist at Private Acıbadem Bursa Hospital between June 2017 and July 2022. She has been working in her private practice since July 2022. She has completed Art Therapy and Creativity Training Modules and is in the writing phase of the thesis titled “Providing Support with Expressive Art Therapy and Creativity Techniques in Groups in Multiple Sclerosis Cases with Attacks and Improvements”. Her special interests are in improving the quality of life of those who suffer from multiple sclerosis, headache, epilepsy, stroke and neurological diseases.

“What motivates me to be part of MIRAS is my desire to contribute to the survival of Anatolian culture, which serves as a bridge from past to present for humanity, and towards the future. I’m proud to be part of a team where everyone is excited to work for this.”

Ali ERGUR was born in Athens in 1966, Ali Ergur graduated from Galatasaray High-School in 1985. He gained his B.A. degree in 1989 from the Public Administration Department in Marmara University, Istanbul,as well as his M.A. degree in 1992. He received his Ph.D. in sociology in 1997 from Middle East Technical University, Ankara. Most of his published works consists on media studies and the social impact of new technologies. Ali Ergur works also on sociology of music, particularly on the modernization of Turkish music and changing tendencies in contemporary musical milieu. Ali Ergur is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Galatasaray University.

“I joined MİRAS because my multidimensional and non-essentialist conception of the concept of culture and MİRAS’s understanding of culture are fully integrated. A society can only stand firm in the storm of history when it can produce its original culture. Culture is not a secondary, but a vital resource for social life. It is the soul of any society. Places where different cultures meet and interact, establishing a basis for peace, are of particular importance. Hatay occupies a privileged place within this history-geography intersection. MİRAS not only protects Hatay’s cultural heritage, but more importantly, proposes to defend Türkiye’s plural cultural world as a whole. Thus, it adopts an inclusive understanding of culture that extends from local to global. The main feature that distinguishes MİRAS from similar local culture advocacy can be summarized as providing a mentality environment in which this consciousness will flourish.”

Hande VARHAN MUSAOĞLU was born in Bursa in 1976. She graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Law after completing her secondary education and high school in Bursa Anatolian High School. After completing her master’s degree in International Commercial Law at Kent University in England in 2001, she started to work at İplikçioğlu Law Firm in Istanbul. She was licensed by the Istanbul Bar Association in December 1999, and has been working in Arıkanlı Holding A.Ş. and Sabah-ATV media group. During her 6 years as associate attorney at ELIG Joint Solicitor Office, she represented many multinational companies as a lawyer, such as ExxonMobil, Google, 3M and L’Oréal. For the last 13 years, she has been working as the legal director of Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical companies in different countries, including Türkiye.  Hande has been riding horses since the age of 13 and is a licensed rider.

Born in 1973, Engin TUZCUOĞLU studied business administration and law, and has been working as a lawyer since 1997. He provided consultancy to several federation and Ministry institutions, as well as the Istanbul Bar Association Sports Law Commission, the Turkish Football Federation Arbitration Board Presidency, and was the Chief Legal Advisor of the Turkish Basketball Federation. He prepared or worked on amendments to the bills and bylaws of many foundations and associations, especially İBTAV, TÜDEV, Türk Loydu, and Sports Law Institute. He currently continues to work with foundations and associations and pursues his philosophy education.

Can ADIGÜZEL was born in 1973 in İzmir / Selçuk, and graduated in Biology from Istanbul University’s Faculty of Science. He is one of the founders of the Istanbul Toy Museum, which was opened on April 23, 2005. Can Adıgüzel, who has produced many television programs and documentaries in Türkiye, has continued his work in the field of culture and arts for many years together with Sunay Akın. Can is married and has a son; he is a sea lover, diver, and yogi.

Özgür Deniz EMİR was born on 28.07.1973 in Muğla. He completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Samandağ District of Hatay. He started his undergraduate education at Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture in 1991 and completed his education in 1995. In the same year, she started her master’s program at Izmir Institute of Technology and graduated from this program in 1999 by completing her master’s thesis titled “Architectural Reflections of the Political Thresholds During Interwar Years.” Since 2000, he has been continuing his architectural studies in his own architectural office in Antakya. Within the scope of the works, there are private housing projects and applications, health and commercial facility structures projects, civil architectural structures and mosque restoration projects, landscaping in archaeological areas, projects, and applications aimed at developing housing and tourism in rural areas and mainly in Antakya Historical City Center. In addition, he made poster and paper presentations at many conferences at home and abroad.

“I have been carrying out restoration work in Antakya Historical City Center since 2000. Our experiences after the February 6 earthquakes show that continuing these works for the rest of my professional life will mean paying our debt to this historical city. In this sense, I think that taking part in platforms such as non-governmental organizations and professional chambers will be very valuable in terms of making Antakya’s voice heard regarding our professional activities and efforts.”

Mehmet Ali BOĞDAY started his career in hospitality at the age of 9. After working in the gastronomy sector for many years at home and abroad, he created an Arab Turkish brand named Sultan’s Steakhouse, in 2016. This restaurant became a new brand in the field of gastronomy, which has a staff of 180 people. It was named restaurant of the year twice by Dubai CNN. Mehmet Ali then founded and managed Truvalife Hotel and Truva Restaurant in Samandag. Since 2019, has been the manager of Sam Franss Boutique Hotel and Mali’s Cups Cafe in Kurtuluş Streetin Antakya, once the world’s first illuminated shopping street. Now, he continues to rebuild and serve in the tourism sector in Antakya-Hatay.

“We need to work together to get Antakya back on its feet. Working with MİRAS means being present to join hands and support what is necessary. Antakya is down now, as it has been down many times before. But we will return and rebuild it, and we will rebuild it better than it was before. For this reason, MİRAS.”

Özge VARHAN DENİZ was born in Bursa in 1980. She completed her primary, secondary, and high school education in the same city. In 2002, she graduated from Anadolu University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration. She then started her business life in Istanbul and worked in the field of human resources. After four years of management experience in the service sector, which she later switched to, she chose to work with children and took creative drama, dyslexia training and child development trainings. Having gained experience in kindergarten management and creative drama teaching, Varhan Deniz, who later took her third undergraduate degree from Istanbul University AUZEF Child Development Department, is still a dyslexia trainer.

“What brought me together with MİRAS Centre for Cultural Sustainability is my conviction that children are the most fundamental element in the transfer of cultural heritage, and that intergenerational cultural transfer will achieve its long-term goals with sustainability.”

Ufuk AKILLI was born in Hatay in 1980 to a prominent business family. He completed his primary, secondary, and high school education in Hatay. After dropping out of business education at Bilkent University in 2001, he worked in Michigan, United States, in the field of business for five years. Ufuk Akıllı, who continues to operate as a board member in the family company İnci Bulgur, which has been operating successfully in the energy, food, export, and construction sectors in Türkiye for many years, is married and has two children.

“I am motivated by the potential of MİRAS to keep the city’s culture, lifestyle, habits and cultural texture alive.”

Huib Schippers is Distinguished Professor and Director of the International Centre for Cultural Sustainability at Zhaoqing University in China. He is one of the world’s leading scholars on the crossroads of music education, cultural diversity, and sustainability. In over three decades of leadership roles, he founded the World Music School in Amsterdam (1990-1996) and played a key role in realising the World Music & Dance Centre in Rotterdam (2001-2006). Next, he was Founding Director of the innovative Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre (2003-2015) before moving to Washington DC as Director/Curator of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (2016-2020). In 2022, he was UC Regents’ Professor at UCLA, and in 2023 Visiting Professor at Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Among over 200 publications from his hand for scholarly and general audiences, most noteworthy are Facing the music: Shaping music education from a global perspective (Oxford University Press (2010); Sustainable futures for music cultures: An ecological perspective (OUP, 2016) and Music, Communities, Sustainability: Developing policies and practices (OUP, 2022). 

Ayşegül Aykaç completed her undergraduate studies at ITU TMDK Musicology Department.  Aykaç studied musicology at Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Italy for one year. She studied voice and breathing techniques, Iranian-Azerbaijani mugams with Cavit Murtezaoğlu, and gave lectures on advanced vocal techniques and edited the method entitled “Voice Method-1” prepared by Murtezaoğlu.

In 2022, Aykaç was accepted to Yıldız Technical University Music and Performing Arts Master’s Program. Aykaç performed as a vocalist in many theatrical plays. Her latest play “Nihayet Makamı” is having its 7th season as of 2025.

Her first single, “Bayat-i Şiraz Mugam”, was released in 2021. “Tek Kapıdan Çıktım”, “Çayeli’nden Öteye” and “İstanbul’dan”, which she prepared with the trio with Ali Kazım Akdağ and Efgan Rende, were published by Ahenk Music in 2021. Her single with Efgan Rende, Kimseye Etmem Şikayet, was released in 2022. Aykaç released two singles with Tolgahan Çoğulu in 2023: “Sorma” and “Yine mi Çiçek”. In 2024, she worked as a vocal director for the movie “Lost Truck” and “Araf” which is a musical for the famous rock band Mor ve Ötesi. In the same year, Aykaç served as a jury member in the “Metro Musicians Competition” organized by Istanbul Municipality and in the competition organized by “Saygı1” concerts in 2025.

Aykaç continues to work as both an instructor and project manager at the MİRAS Centre for Cultural Sustainability association