Following her training in political science at Galatasaray University, Istanbul, Elif Becan obtained her master's degree in " History and civilization ". In January 2021, she defended her thesis entitled Une familière étrangeté. L'accueil des musulmans des Balkans en Turquie (1923-1964) in political studies at EHESS. Her research focuses on the categorization of foreigners in post-Ottoman Turkey. In particular, she examines the categories used in reception policies. She is currently in charge of documentary resources at the Bibliothèque d'études ottomanes at the Collège de France.
Her thesis focuses on the reception policies implemented in the Republic of Turkey for Muslims immigrating from the Balkans between 1923 and 1964. Legally, these Muslims were foreigners, but the authorities made very little use of the term. The aim is to study the relationship between reception and identification, in order to understand the place of the notion of foreigner in reception policies, as set, negotiated and interpreted by legislative, executive, diplomatic and administrative authorities, as well as by immigrants themselves. The aim is to trace the genealogy, development and transformation of reception policies, taking into account the multiple layers of strangeness and familiarity present in the state's work of identification.
