From the secret service to the Turkish foreign ministry: Who is Hakan Fidan?
Hakan Fidan, who made history as the youngest MİT undersecretary of the Republic of Turkey, became the foreign minister of his country as of 2023. Would you like to get to know Hakan Fidan, whom President Tayyip Erdoğan "kept by his side"?
He was born in 1968. He graduated as a non-commissioned officer in 1986 and served as a communications intelligence non-commissioned officer in the Turkish Armed Forces for 15 years until 2001. After graduating from the Land Forces Communications School, he also graduated from the Language School. Hakan Fidan was appointed as Deputy Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) on 17 April 2009. Hakan Fidan was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new cabinet announced by President Erdoğan on June 3, 2023. So who is Hakan Fidan, where is he from and what positions did he hold?
Who is Hakan Fidan?
Hakan Fidan was born in Ankara in 1968. He graduated as a non-commissioned officer in 1986 and served as a communications intelligence non-commissioned officer in the Turkish Armed Forces for 15 years until 2001. After the Land Forces Combat School, he also graduated from the Language School.
Hakan Fidan (born 17 July 1968) is a Turkish soldier, academician, bureaucrat, diplomat and current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey. A member of the AK Party, he previously served as the director of the National Intelligence Organization from 2010 to 2023. As of 4 June 2023 he is serving as the 42nd Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey. He is seen as possible successor as leader of Ak Party and president Erdogan.
He was assigned to the Nato Rapid Reaction Corps Headquarters in Germany by the Turkish Armed Forces for a period of three years. During this assignment, he graduated from the US-based University of Maryland in Germany.
He holds a BA in Management and Political Science from the University College of Maryland.
He was elected as a member of the OYAK General Assembly in 2000. When his compulsory service ended, he left the Turkish Armed Forces in 2001 and completed his master's and doctorate in international relations at Bilkent University.
Hakan Fidan's master's thesis was on "The Role of Intelligence in Foreign Policy" and his doctoral thesis was on "Diplomacy in the Information Age: The Role of Information Technologies in the Verification of International Agreements". At the same time, he started working as a political and economic advisor at the Australian Embassy in Ankara between 2001 and 2003.
He was appointed to the Turkish Cooperation and Development Administration (Tika) in 2003. He held this position until 2007. He worked closely with Abdullah Gul, who was the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs during the TIKA Presidency. On 14 November 2007, he was appointed as the Deputy Undersecretary of the Prime Ministry responsible for foreign policy and international security issues.
He accompanied Prof Dr Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Prime Ministry Foreign Policy Advisor at the time, in regional contacts. He attended Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's many trips abroad and meetings with foreign statesmen.
Abdullah Gül's name was also mentioned for the Presidency General Secretariat for a while after he went to Çankaya Mansion.
While serving as Deputy Undersecretary of the Prime Ministry, he became a member of the Board of Directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in November 2008; He continued his academic studies at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, the United Nations Disarmament Institute in Geneva and the Verification Technologies Research Center in London.
On March 8, 2008, he was appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Ahmet Yesevi University. He resigned from this post in February 2011. He worked as an academician at Hacettepe and Bilkent universities.
Hakan Fidan was appointed as the Deputy Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization on April 17, 2009. Hakan Fidan was appointed as MİT Undersecretary on 25 May 2010, replacing Emre Taner, who had been serving as MİT Undersecretary since 15 June 2005. While Emre Taner retired from the age limit, Hakan Fidan became the youngest undersecretary at the age of 42.
From its establishment until 1992, officers with the rank of lieutenant general were appointed to the MIT Undersecretariat. After Sönmez Köksal, who was appointed as the Undersecretary of MİT, Hakan Fidan was the second name to head the organization from outside.
Hakan Fidan was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new cabinet announced by President Erdoğan on June 3, 2023. Hakan Fidan is married and has 3 children.