Hakan Fidan

Hakan Fidan is a Turkish diplomat and intelligence officer who is the 17th and current director of the National Intelligence Organization[note 1] since 2010[note 2]. He is known for his contributions to Turkish national security and his involvement in various diplomatic and intelligence operations.

Hakan Fidan
Director of the National Intelligence Organization
Assumed office
9 March 2015
PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Prime MinisterBinali Yıldırım
Preceded byİsmail Hakkı Musa
In office
25 May 2010 – 10 February 2015
PresidentAbdullah Gül
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Ahmet Davutoğlu
Preceded byEmre Taner
Succeeded byİsmail Hakkı Musa
Personal details
Born1968 (age 54–55)
Ankara, Turkey
Political partyJustice and Development Party (2015)
SpouseNuran Fidan
Children3
OccupationIntelligence officer and diplomat
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev receives Hakan Fidan (left side of the table, with the microphone)

Early life and education

Hakan Fidan was born in 1968 in Ankara, Turkey. He obtained a degree in management and political science from the University of Maryland Global Campus. Afterwards, he obtained his master's and doctorate degree from Bilkent University.

He worked as a non-commissioned officer in the Turkish Army from 1986 to 2001.

Early career

His previous domestic tenures included directing[1][2] the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency from 2003 to 2007, and being a deputy-undersecretary[2][3] in the prime minister's office from November 2007.

He worked as a security advisor for Recep Tayyip Erdogan.[4]

Internationally, Fidan held board positions at two specialized agencies of the United Nations; the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Spy career

Fidan directed the National Intelligence Organization from 25 May 2010 until 7 February 2015 when he resigned from his position to run for office as a member of parliament, aiming to represent AK Party.[5][6] On 9 March 2015, exactly 30 days later, he withdrew his candidacy. He was appointed back to his position within hours.[7]

Foreign relations

His tenure saw a shift from a security cooperation with Israel and the United States towards one with Iran[8] most notably Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Al Quds division.[4] During the Munich Security Conference[9] in February 2017, he delivered a list of 300 alleged supporters of the Gülen Movement to Bruno Kahl, president of the German Federal Intelligence Service in apparent expectation of cooperation.[10] But the list much more lead the German authorities to warn the observed people from the Turkish intelligence service activities.[9] In September 2022, he visited Hamis Hancer of the Sunni bloc in the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad and also met with the Iraqi President Baram Salih.[11]

Controversies

He was involved in secret peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for which in 2012 a state prosecutor wanted to investigate him.[12] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan intervened on behalf of Fidan[12] and he was later delegated to hold talks with Abdullah Öcalan and arranged the secret black marketing of Iran through Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government.[13][14]

Notes
    1. The agency is also known as MIT or MİT, or colloquially as the Organization.
    2. He briefly stepped down from his position between February and March of 2015 to run for office in the parliament. However he revoked his candidacy a month later and returned to office.

    References
    1. Today's Zaman, 19 April 2010, Hakan Fidan becomes next head of Turkish intelligence Archived 2013-10-31 at the Wayback Machine
    2. "Hakan Fidan slated to be next head of Turkish intelligence". Dünya. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
    3. "Hakan Fidan kimdir? Özgeçmişinde neler var? İşte engenç MİT Başkanı'nın özgeçmişi". Vatan (in Turkish). 11 February 2012.
    4. Peters, Dominik; Popp, Maximilian; Sydow, Christoph (2018-11-11). "Jamal Khashoggi: Der Mann, der alles über Khashoggis Sterben weiß". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
    5. "Turkish spymaster Fidan quits to contest parliamentary election: sources". Reuters. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
    6. "Turkish intelligence chief quits post to run in general elections". France 24. 2015-02-07. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
    7. "Turkey's former intel chief withdraws decision to run for parliament, returns to MİT". Hürriyet Daily News. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
    8. "Turkey revealed Israeli spy ring to Iran-report". Reuters. 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
    9. Mascolo, Georg (28 March 2017). "Der Irrtum des türkischen Top-Spions". Der Bund (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-10.
    10. "Bespitzelung von Gülen-Anhängern: Türkische Spionage ist ein Fall für die Justiz". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
    11. "Second visit by Türkiye's intelligence chief in a month raises question marks in Iraq". Bianet. 7 October 2022.
    12. Szymanski, Mike. "Hakan Fidan - Erdoğans Mann für Geheimnisse". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-10.
    13. Al Jazeera, 22 March 2013, Profile: Turkey's 'secret-keeper' Hakan Fidan
    14. "Investigation of Turkish Intelligence head won't proceed, says prosecutor - Türkiye News". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
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