Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Ertugrul Kurkcu

Ertugrul Kurkcu is a freelance journalist and coordinator of the Independent Communication Network in Istanbul.

Current Analysis

Washington Pushes Turkey Toward "The Red Line"

Top Pentagon brass may have doubts about the feasibility of the circulating war plans for Iraq, but George W. Bush's envoys have convinced Turkish decision-makers that a US military operation to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime is inevitable. An official document recently leaked from Turkish Prime Minister

Ertugrul Kurkcu • 6 min read

Current Analysis

Turkey's Ecevit

When Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit arrives in Washington, DC this week to meet with President George W. Bush he will come bearing a symbolic gift: a replica of a 16th century Koran, beautifully embroidered and written with real gold lettering. The original of this Koran comes from the Topkapi

Ertugrul Kurkcu • 7 min read

Current Analysis

Desperately but Deliberately, Turkey Joins Bush's War

On November 1 the Turkish government, relying on an October 10 parliamentary decision "to deploy troops in other countries and host foreign troops in Turkey," lent a flesh and bone dimension to its rhetorical support for the US-led war in Afghanistan. Ankara's decision to send "

Ertugrul Kurkcu • 6 min read

MER Article

The Crisis of the Turkish State

In early June, some 30,000 high-level diplomats, state delegations, specialists and academics from around the globe will gather in Istanbul for the century’s last world summit, the Second UN Conference for Human Settlement, or Habitat II. As the delegates come out of their sessions in the “conference valley”

Ertugrul Kurkcu • 14 min read