The aim of SRII is to promote academic research on Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia, particularly in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Fields of study represented at the Institute are first and foremost Turkic and West Asian Languages and Literatures, Archaeology, Classical and Byzantine Studies, Art and Architectural History, General History, with the emphasis on Ottoman and modern Turkish history, Religion, Anthropology, Sociology, Educational Studies, and Political Science, including International Relations