“The keeper of Turkey’s secrets – and of my own secrets.” This is how Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has described his foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, on more than one occasion. Fidan has sought to position Turkey as a balancing pathway between East and West, in line with what is often referred to as the “Erdoğan vision” for leading a new Turkey.
For more than a decade and a half – first as head of Turkish intelligence and now as foreign minister – Hakan Fidan has rarely stopped moving between Eastern capitals and Western decision-making centers, working to consolidate Turkey’s new role in the Middle East. He is the first Turkish foreign minister to come from an intelligence background, approaching diplomacy through a security-driven framework aimed at crafting solutions to the region’s sensitive and complex crises.
During his tenure as head of Turkish intelligence, Fidan successfully managed several critical portfolios, including Syria, the Kurdish issue, the fight against ISIS, and the Iranian file. Since assuming the post of foreign minister, expectations have been high that he will replicate his security-sector successes on the foreign-policy stage.
Early Life and Education
Hakan Fidan was born in 1968 in the Turkish capital, Ankara. He studied at the Land Forces Language School before graduating from the Turkish Military Academy in 1986.
Immediately after graduation, he joined the Turkish Armed Forces’ Rapid Reaction Unit affiliated with NATO in Germany. During his NATO service, Fidan earned a bachelor’s degree in political and administrative sciences from the University of Maryland in the United States.
In 2001, Fidan resigned from the military and shifted to academic study in the Department of International Relations at Bilkent University in Ankara. He obtained a master’s degree in 2003 and a doctorate in 2006 from the same department.
Fidan also studied at an academy affiliated with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, and the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre in London. During this period, he worked as an adviser at Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs while Ahmet Davutoğlu served as foreign minister.
In April 2009, Fidan was appointed deputy head of Turkish intelligence, and in May 2010 he became director of the agency.
In a surprise move in February 2015, Fidan resigned as intelligence chief and announced his candidacy for parliament on the ruling Justice and Development Party’s list – a decision that sparked widespread debate in Turkey. The man who had long managed the country’s internal and external files from behind the scenes chose to step into the spotlight. The move, however, was short-lived. In March 2015, Fidan withdrew his candidacy after his resignation reportedly displeased Erdoğan, who stated that he had appointed Fidan because of his strong competence in running the intelligence service and that he should not leave the post for electoral politics.
In June 2023, Hakan Fidan was appointed foreign minister in Turkey’s 67th government, headed by President Erdoğan – a position he continues to hold.
Fidan and Crisis Management
According to Mohammed Zahid Gül, editor-in-chief of Independent Türkçe, Fidan’s approach falls within the logic of defensive realism, in which foreign policy is defined as a tool for reducing threats rather than expanding influence, particularly in a regional environment marked by overlapping and proliferating conflicts.
“Fidan seeks to manage crises rather than resolve them outright, and to prevent them from turning into direct threats to Turkey’s national security,” Gül told Alhurra.
Gül notes that this orientation reflects an understanding that full engagement in regional conflicts raises the costs of attrition, whereas conflict-management diplomacy preserves room for maneuver and a degree of relative stability.
Fidan hails from Ankara, located at the heart of the Anatolian Peninsula, which covers most of Turkey’s territory. Anatolia is characterized by ethnic and cultural diversity and has been ruled by numerous Eastern and Western civilizations, historically serving as a bridge between East and West. It is also a major political and spiritual center for Turks, as it is home to Konya, the former capital of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, which played a prominent role in the Islamic-Byzantine struggle.
These Anatolian characteristics are reflected in Fidan’s personality and outlook. He seeks to apply Anatolia’s diversity and integrative model to Turkey’s new political approach, both domestically and in foreign affairs.
“Fidan’s Anatolian identity translates into a worldview that sees geography as a binding factor in foreign policy. Given its location, Turkey cannot adopt isolationist policies or rigid alignments,” Gül explains, adding that this understanding has helped redirect Turkish foreign policy toward a more neighborhood-focused approach.
As for whether Fidan’s eastward opening represents an alternative to the West, Gül clarifies: “Fidan does not present this orientation as a substitute for the West, but as a way to expand Turkey’s options and reduce unilateral dependence.”
But can Fidan manage sensitive files in the open as effectively as he did in the shadows?
Gül answers: “The success of this approach depends on Fidan’s ability to translate security expertise into institutional diplomacy – one capable of maintaining balance among competing axes without falling into polarization.”
Architect of Sensitive Files
Hakan Fidan is widely regarded as the architect of Turkey’s security policy toward sensitive domestic and regional issues, foremost among them the Kurdish file. In recent years, he succeeded in weakening the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) through a strategy of targeting field commanders in Syria and Iraq, conducting airstrikes that eliminated numerous senior operatives and security planners.
He also played a key role in resolving the issue of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and their control over northeastern Syria, contributing significantly to an agreement between Damascus and the SDF. In addition, he was instrumental in the ongoing peace negotiations between Ankara and the PKK, culminating in the group’s dissolution and the end of an armed conflict that had lasted more than four decades.
Beyond the Kurdish issue, Fidan worked to strengthen Turkey’s reconciliation policies with regional states, adopting an approach centered on openness toward Turkey’s surroundings and the wider world. His role in managing regional files expanded as Iranian influence receded in Syria and Lebanon over the past two years.
Fidan also played a prominent role in improving relations with Egypt, strengthening ties with Gulf states, and concluding economic and investment agreements with several of them.
Strategic Mind of the Turkish State
Turkish international-relations expert Mohammed Raqib Oğlu considers Hakan Fidan one of the foremost representatives of Turkey’s strategic state mindset, noting that he is a seasoned bureaucrat who has handled highly sensitive responsibilities within state institutions for many years.
“The Hakan Fidan phase in Turkish foreign policy can be read as an extension of a long-term strategic trajectory that Ankara seeks to entrench and develop,” Raqib Oğlu told Alhurra.
Raqib Oğlu, a senior researcher at the Istanbul-based Dimensions Center for Strategic Studies, argues that the normalization Turkey has pursued with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates in recent years relies heavily on what might be termed “intelligence diplomacy.”
“Hakan Fidan played a pivotal role in this path. This approach gave Turkey wide room for maneuver and enabled it to navigate complex regional crises without becoming entangled in sharp polarizations or conflicts,” he said.
Raqib Oğlu adds that Turkey today seeks to build a regional vision based on inclusivity rather than exclusion – engaging with all regional actors without exception and strengthening the principle of “regional ownership” in crisis management.
The article is a translation of the original Arabic.
