Hakan Fidan

Fidan was born to a Kurdish father from Van province and a Turkish mother from Denizli.^[5] His father belongs to the Kurdish Hesenan tribe,^[6] whose head in 2023 claimed Hakan Fidan spoke Kurdish.^[7] He earned a degree in management and political science from the University of Maryland Global Campus and later completed his master's and doctorate at Bilkent University.

From 1986 to 2001, he served as a non-commissioned officer in the Turkish Land Forces and was part of the NATO-unit Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in Germany.^[8] Fidan directed the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) from 2003 to 2007, focusing on development projects in Turkic and African countries.^[9] He also served as an assistant secretary in the prime ministry and as a security advisor for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.^[10] Internationally, he held board positions at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)^[11] and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).^[12]

Fidan led the National Intelligence Organization from May 2010 to February 2015, when he briefly resigned to pursue a parliamentary seat for the Justice and Development Party (AKP).^[13][14] After withdrawing his candidacy, he was reappointed to his intelligence position within hours.^[15]

Fidan was instrumental in formulating Turkey's regional strategy of providing active support for Syrian rebels engaged in combat against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.^[16] His tenure saw a shift from a security cooperation with Israel and the United States towards one with Iran^[17] most notably Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Al Quds division.^[10] During the 2016 Turkish coup attempt, Fidan played a crucial role in assisting Erdogan to suppress the coup.^[16] During the Munich Security Conference^[18] 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 (BND) in apparent expectation of cooperation during the political purges in Turkey following the failed coup attempt in July 2016.^[19] But the list much more lead the German authorities to warn the observed people from the Turkish intelligence service activities.^[18] 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.^[20]

Fidan was involved in secret peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for which in 2012 a state prosecutor wanted to investigate him.^[21] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan intervened on behalf of Fidan^[21] and he was later delegated to hold talks with Abdullah Öcalan and arranged the secret black marketing of Iran^{[clarification needed]} through Erdoğan's government.^[11][22]