The Vasileois Fouskas and Bülente Gökay Best Article of the Year Award for 2025 has been awarded to Jan Koura from the Institute of History for his article In the Service of the Eastern Bloc: Czechoslovak Intelligence and the Cyprus Conflict 1974–1989.
The committee has especially praised the study for its methodological sophistication and significant contribution to the study of history, particularly the history of Cyprus and the Cold War. Jan Koura’s article has succeeded in competition with nearly fifty other articles published in the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies in 2025.
“I am very pleased with winning the award and take it as encouragement to conduct further research into the history of the Cold War, which I have been developing for a long time at the Faculty of Arts as part of my research group. I appreciate it all the more as it is awarded by such a prestigious journal and because the article succeeded in exceptionally strong competition against other excellent texts,” said Jan Koura.
The full name of the award is the Vasileios Fouskas and Bülent Gökay Best Article of the Year Award in the Study of International Economics, Politics and History of the Balkans and the Near East (named after the founding editor and chairman of the editorial board) and is awarded to the best article published during the previous year in the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies. Articles nominated for the award shortlist are selected based on the methodological and analytical rigor, originality, critical approach and social impact.
The Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies is a leading periodical in the field of research on modern international relations and history, global economic relations, and geopolitics of the former Ottoman and Soviet regions and states in the Balkans and the wider Middle East. It ranks in the first quartile in terms of impact factor (Clarivate) and CiteScore (Scopus). Only 16% of all submitted articles are accepted.
