SETA Foundation

The SETA Foun­da­tion for Polit­i­cal, Eco­nom­ic and Social Research (Turk­ish: Siyaset, Ekono­mi ve Toplum Araştır­maları Vak­fı; SETA) is a Turk­ish think tank that was found­ed in 2005 by Ibrahim Kalin (who lat­er became Turk­ish Pres­i­den­tial Spokesper­son and Spe­cial Advis­er to the Pres­i­dent of Turkey). The Ger­man gov­ern­ment has said that SETA is close to Pres­i­dent Erdoğan’s AKP par­ty and receives fund­ing from the Albayrak fam­i­ly, which includes for­mer Finance Min­is­ter and Erdoğan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak. Sev­er­al oth­er promi­nent AKP politi­cians have had lead­ing roles in SETA, includ­ing for­mer Prime Min­is­ter Ahmet Davu­toğlu, and its cur­rent Gen­er­al Coor­di­na­tor is a mem­ber of the Turk­ish Pres­i­den­cy Secu­ri­ty and For­eign Poli­cies Coun­cil. SETA has offices in Turkey, the US, Ger­many, and Belgium.