Riccardo Gasco is the Foreign Policy Program Coordinator at the IstanPol Institute. He is also a Doctoral Researcher in International Relations at the University of Bologna and currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) in Istanbul.

He holds a degree in International Relations and Diplomatic Sciences, obtained from the University of Genoa and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. His current research focuses on Turkey's foreign policy, the Middle East, and Turkey's relations with NATO and Russia. His research project examines the foreign policy behavior of emerging middle powers, with Turkey as a case study.

Gasco has published academic articles on Turkish foreign policy, particularly on Turkey-China relations, Turkish domestic politics, and the interrelation between the Kurdish issue and Turkish foreign policy. In addition to academic articles, he has also published commentaries on Turkey’s Transatlantic relations, Turkey's relations with the broader Middle East and Europe, and Turkish domestic politics.