Turkish Presiden Recep Tayyip Erdogan named intel chief Hakan Fidan as Foreign Minister in the new presidential cabinet.
Fidan has been part of Erdogan’s core group of advisors. Appointment of an intel chief was regarded as a signal that Türkiye is planning to follow an active foreign policy.
Who is Hakan Fidan?
Hakan Fidan was born in Ankara in 1968. He is a graduate of the Land Forces Combat School (1986) and the Land Forces Language School. He is married. He completed most of his academic education during his duty in the Turkish Armed Forces. He served abroad in the Intelligence and Operations Directorate of the NATO Rapid Reaction Corps in Germany.
During this period, he received his undergraduate degrees in Political and Management Science from the University of Maryland University College, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Bilkent University, Department of International Relations after returning home. He resigned from his duty as a non-commissioned officer in the TAF following his obligatory service, and later served as the Prime Ministry’s Special Representative, in addition to his duties as the Political and Economic Consultant of the Embassy, the Presidency of the Prime Ministry Turkish Cooperation and Development Administration (TIKA), the Deputy Undersecretary of the Prime Ministry (responsible for foreign policy and international security).
In parallel with these duties, he has been a Board Member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a Member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations Development Cooperation Platform, a Member of the Board of Trustees of Ahmet Yesevi Turkish-Kazakh University, a Member of the Board of Yunus Emre Foundation and a Member of the General Assembly of OYAK. He has carried out academic studies on international security, international development and Turkish Foreign Policy. He taught part-time international relations at Hacettepe and Bilkent Universities.
After a short time as National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Deputy Undersecretary, he was appointed as MIT Undersecretary on 27 May 2010 and resigned from this duty on 10 February 2015. He resigned from the Justice and Development Party to be a candidate for parliamentary candidate, effective February 10, 2015. However, he withdrew his application for candidacy by making a written statement on March 9, 2015. He returned to his duties on March 10, 2015.
Hakan Fidan took office as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new cabinet announced on 3 June 2023.
