Deniz Ünal is a graduate of the University of Paris I (in international economics and development) and is an Economist with the CEPII. She has worked on trade specialisation, regional trade areas, international comparisons of productivity levels, trade in services, China and Turkey. In addition, as a pastime, Deniz Unal is in charge of Turkish literature with Bleu autour publishing and has translated several books of Turkish modern literature into French under the pseudonym Elif Deniz.