Part of the Yıldız Technical University, the Centre for Balkan and Black Sea Studies was established in 2010 to conduct research on the Balkan and the Black Sea regions.

The academics who helped establish BALKAR are experts on the Balkans, Russia and the Caucasus, and have close academic contacts in these regions. BALKAR organises conferences, symposiums and workshops; conducts research projects; offers consulting services; and runs educational programmes and free language courses (languages include Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ottoman, Russian and Greek). The organisation also puts out a number of publications including books and journals.