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Metin Gurcan is a columnist for Al-Monitor's Turkey Pulse. He is a founding member of Ali Babacan's new political party, and served in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Iraq as a Turkish military adviser from 2002 to 2008. After resigning from the military, he became an Istanbul-based independent security analyst. Gurcan obtained his PhD in 2016 with a dissertation on changes in the Turkish military over the preceding decade. He has published extensively in Turkish and foreign academic journals, and his book “What Went Wrong in Afghanistan: Understanding Counterinsurgency in Tribalized, Rural, Muslim Environments” was published in August 2016. On Twitter: @Metin4020
![The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone is pictured on Dec. 16, 2019, at the Gecitkale military air base near Famagusta in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-04/GettyImages-1189027354.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=qWC3wdWV)
![A Liberian-flagged cargo vessel is tugged by a coastal safety boat after it ran ashore in the Bosporus, Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 27, 2019.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-04/GettyImages-1191118902_0.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=tnJC1-ql)
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Metin Gurcan
![Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech following an evaluation meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on April 5, 2021. Erdogan accused dozens of retired admirals of eyeing a "political coup" by attacking his plans for a canal linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Erdogan's fury was directed at a letter published by 104 former admirals over the weekend urging him to abide by the terms of the 1936 Montreux Convention.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-04/GettyImages-1232130234.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=0h94GDRz)
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Metin Gurcan
![Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (2nd, L) speaks during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (2nd, R) on June 15, 2018, in Beijing, China. (Photo by Greg Baker-Pool/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-03/GettyImages-975077830.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=10h9GAEV)
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Metin Gurcan
![IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/POOL/AFP via Getty Images](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-03/GettyImages-1229197327.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=cpODy3kO)
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Metin Gurcan
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Metin Gurcan
![Turkish President and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during AK Party's extended meeting of Provincial heads at AK Party Headquarters in Ankara on September 5, 2019. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2021/02/GettyImages-1166060192.jpg/GettyImages-1166060192.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=c-2rjtQK)
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Metin Gurcan
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Metin Gurcan
![WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) meets with Turkish President Recep Erdogan on March 31, 2016 in Washington, DC. Erdogan is in Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2021/01/GettyImages-518363944.jpg/GettyImages-518363944.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=VeTJJSux)
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Metin Gurcan
![Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (R) and leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli talk on stage during a rally for the upcoming local elections in Ankara, Turkey, on March 23, 2019. - Turkish will cast their ballots for local elections on March 31, 2019. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2021/01/GettyImages-1132195429.jpg/GettyImages-1132195429.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=Xv14WLAr)
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Metin Gurcan
![A picture taken at the port of Dilovasi, outside Istanbul, on June 20, 2019 shows the drilling ship 'Yavuz' scheduled to search for oil and gas off Cyprus, next to a warship. - Turkey is set to send a new ship on June 20 to search for oil and gas off Cyprus, in a move expected to escalate tensions after the EU called on Ankara to stop its "illegal drilling activities". The region near the divided island is believed have rich natural gas deposits, triggering a race between Turkey and the internationally reco](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/01/GettyImages-1150938469.jpg/GettyImages-1150938469.jpg?itok=6-8EdO_l)
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Metin Gurcan
![A Turkish policeman stands guard outside the courthouse in Istanbul on March 28, 2019, during the trial of Metin Topuz, an US consulate staffer accused of spying and attempting to overthrow the government. - Topuz, a Turkish citizen and liaison with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, was arrested in 2017 and has been accused of ties to US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who Ankara says ordered a failed 2016 coup. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2021/01/GettyImages-1133250411.jpg/GettyImages-1133250411.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=V8QdEmzv)
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Metin Gurcan