Hakan Fidan was born in Ankara in 1968. After graduating from the Land Forces School of Communications in 1986, he started to serve with the rank of Noncommissioned Officer in the Turkish Armed Forces. He also received training at the Land Forces Language School, where he worked as a computer technician in the Automatic Information Processing Department of the Land Forces Command.
His appointment to NATO's Rapid Reaction Corps Intelligence and Operations Division in Germany constituted a turning point in Fidan's education and career. During his international career he received a bachelor's degree in management and political science from the University of Maryland University College (UMUC).
After returning to Turkey, Fidan was doing his master's degree at the Department of International Relations of Bilkent University with a thesis titled Intelligence and Foreign Policy: A Comparative Analysis of British, American and Turkish Intelligence Systems (1999). In his study, Fidan emphasized that Turkey needed a strong external intelligence network. Fidan completed his Ph.D. program in the same department of Bilkent University with his thesis titled Diplomacy in the Information Age: The Use of Information Technologies in Verification (2006).
Fidan, who was elected as a member of the OYAK General Assembly in 2000, left the Turkish Armed Forces in 2001 after completing a 15 year obligatory service period in the army. After switching to a civilian life, he served as Political and Economic Advisor at the Australian Embassy in Ankara. In the same period he continued his academic work at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, the UN Disarmament Institute in Geneva, and at the London-based Verification Research, Training and Information Center.
The youngest person in MİT history to become an undersecretary
In 2003-2007, he served as the President of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) under the Prime Ministry. He was consultant to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during the same period and in November 2007, he was appointed as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Deputy Undersecretary for Foreign Policy and International Security. On April 17th, 2009, he was appointed as assistant of MİT Undersecretary Emre Taner. He was appointed to MİT Undersecretary when he was only 42 on May 27th, 2010 by the AK Party government. Therefore Fidan became the youngest person in MİT history to sit in the seat of the undersecretary.
July 15 Process
First Information
On Friday July 15, 2016 at 14:45 the Major named A.H., who served as a pilot at the Land Aviation Command, came to the MİT building in Ankara and informed everyone there that, "There will be a helicopter strike on MİT." Major A.H., who was questioned by intelligence officers with an urgent code, said that he was given the mission of kidnapping Hakan Fidan. The information given by the major was immediately shared with MIT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan.
According to the official statement made by the General Staff, information given by the National Intelligence Organization on Friday, July 15, 2016 at 16:00 on Friday, July 15, 2016, was evaluated with the participation of the Chief of General Staff, the Commander of the Land Forces and the Chief of the General Staff in the Headquarters of the General Staff and MIT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan who had passed the headquarters' security gate around 18:30. MIT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan also attended the meetings that lasted until 19:20.
“Fidan evaded putschists by 20 minutes”
According to the prosecutor's office statement of the former Personnel Chief of General Staff İlhan Talu, who was arrested after FETÖ's coup attempt, MIT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan remained in the General Staff Headquarters until 20:30 on July 15 and evaded the putschists by 20 minutes.
Since the coup plot was deciphered, the coup plot rescheduled from 03:00 to an earlier time. And the MİT building was one of the places where the most violent conflicts took place.
“We were in conflict until morning”
Hakan Fidan, who was at the Prime Ministry on Saturday July 16, had a conversation with Milliyet News Ankara Representative Serpil Çevikcan and asked, “How was the night?” MİT Undersecretary replied, “We were in conflict until morning.” He said that they succeeded at the end of the conflict. “The systematic operation is over,” said Hakan and he added, “Spot-on operations will be performed.” President Erdoğan, met MİT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan at the Presidential Palace for the first time on July 22nd after the July 15 coup attempt.
