Dr. Kurtulus Öztopçu is currently retired from teaching. For many years, he taught various courses related to Turkic languages at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, UCLA, and UC Berkeley. He is the author of several scholarly books and articles all relating to Turkic languages.

Born in 1950 in Eskisehir, Turkey, Dr. Öztopçu received his B.A. in Literature (1971) from the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at the University of Istanbul and his M.A.(1978) and Ph.D. (1986) from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA. He is a member of the American Association of Teachers of Turkic (AATT).

Dr. Öztopçu's is currently working on these projects:

• Uighur-English and English-Uighur Dictionaries
  
  This is a project that has been continuing for several years. The Uighur entry words will be given in their original Arabic script as well as in the Latin transcription. This study may eventually evolve into an Uighur-Turkish Dictionary project as well.

• A Middle Turkic-English Dictionary

  This joint project with Professor A. J. E. Bodrogligeti will include the word materials of over 15 different major works written in the Middle Turkic period and will hopefully be a major contribution to the field of Turkic studies.