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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
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Metin Gurcan
![Illustration picture shows an F16 fighter jet landing after a press conference of the Belgian defence, to discuss the missions it's involved in, and to look back on the Desert Falcon mission, at the military air base in Kleine-Brogel, Peer on Oct. 1, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-10/GettyImages-1235628129.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=0dmHr_CL)
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![Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi on Sept. 29, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-09/GettyImages-1235573914_0.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=uQ_eQfbI)
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Metin Gurcan
![Iraqi fighters of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) stand next to a wall bearing the Islamic State (IS) group flag as they enter the city of al-Qaim, in Iraq's western Anbar province near the Syrian border as they fight against remnant pockets of Islamic State group jihadists on Nov. 3, 2017.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-09/GettyImages-869813922.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=-vYR06Gw)
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Metin Gurcan
![People look at military weapons on May 9, 2017, during the opening day of the 13th International Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-09/GettyImages-680792698.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=XGfXZwut)
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![Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech following an evaluation meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on April 5, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-09/GettyImages-1232130234.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=GdQjHxUE)
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Metin Gurcan
![Armed Taliban fighters stand next to a mullah, a religious leader, speaking during Friday prayers at the Pul-e Khishti Mosque in Kabul on Sept. 3, 2021.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2021-09/GettyImages-1235030447.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=y3APgzxK)
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Metin Gurcan