Chairperson of the Department of Media and Communication Studies
Director of the Grand Library
Law Advisior
Ayhan Dolunay was born in Kyrenia. He began undergraduate education at Near East University Faculty of Law after graduating from Girne Anafartalar High School in 2009. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Law in 2013 and, in the same year, enrolled in the Private Law Master's program at the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Near East University with a full scholarship under the Faculty Member Training Program (ÖYP). He began his career as a Research Assistant at the Faculty of Law.
He took on the role of moderator for the television program "Yakından Hukuk", which was filmed for NEU TV and broadcasted on BRT and Sim TV. He completed his master's degree in 2015 by defending his thesis titled “Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Court Decisions in Turkish Law and Turkish Cypriot Law”.
After completing his lawyer internship, he started his doctoral program in Private Law at the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Near East University with a full scholarship under the ÖYP. While continuing his career as a Lecturer, he was appointed as the Legal Advisor of Near East University.
As part of the promotional activities of Near East University, he conducted numerous law and justice seminars in the TRNC and Turkey. In late 2015, he enrolled in the Doctoral Program in Media and Communication Studies at the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Near East University with a full scholarship under the ÖYP, while also taking on a full-time role in the academic staff of the Faculty of Communication. In 2016, he started working as a part-time Lecturer too in the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Near East University.
He defended his Ph.D. thesis titled “Freedom of the Press in The Digital Age within the Frameworks of Legal and Ethic Codes: Example of the TRNC” in 2018 and obtained his Ph.D. degree. In 2019, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the field of Communication Sciences.
In 2019, Ayhan Dolunay was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Near East University, a position he held until 2021 when the relevant duties were merged under the Institute of Graduate Studies at Near East University.
He served on the organizing committees of various symposia and panels on the themes of Law, Political Sciences, and Communication. Ayhan Dolunay has participated in numerous national and international conferences, presenting papers. He has published multiple articles in national and international academic journals (including those indexed in Thomson Reuters WoS SSCI/SCI Expanded/ESCI, Scopus) in the fields of Communication, Law, and Sociology, both in Turkish and English. He has also authored 8 published books (6 international and 2 national).
Dolunay, who served as the Founding Director of the University of Kyrenia Grand Library and the Near East University Yeniboğaziçi Campus Grand Library, was appointed as the Director of the Near East Enterprises Centeral Library Near East University Grand Library in 2021. In the same year, Dolunay was appointed as the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Communication.
He has served as a referee and editor in many international journals, including those indexed in Thomson Reuters WoS. In 2022, he was appointed as an Associate Professor in the field of Communication Science.
As of September 15, 2023, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dolunay has been appointed as the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Communication and continues to carry out his academic and administrative duties.