Hakan Fidan

Turkey
Turkey's MIT maps out intelligence academy plans

Following the lead of a number of Western intelligence communities, Turkey is planning to open an intelligence academy, under the aegis of the MIT, headed by spymaster Hakan Fidan.

Syria, United States
USSOCOM keeps troops on ground despite Syria-Turkey talks

After letting its focus on Syria slip, the United States is now having to sit by and watch as the Assad regime continues to engage with Turkey. If the two neighbours do restore ties, this could pull the US back into the regional troubles and call into question the presence of US troops in northeast Syria.

The Intelligence Gazette
Moldovan security council, Russia's data border crack down, Xi Jinping and Moscow, Ankara struggling with PKK

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week, we bring news from Ankara, Moscow, Chisinau and Beijing.

MoldovaPresidential cabinet musical chairs.

RussiaRoskomnadzor strengthens border controls.

China/RussiaBeijing gets involved in peace efforts in Europe.

Turkey/IraqAnkara searches for equipment to fight PKK in northern Iraq.

Syria, Turkey
Taksim Square blast makes Ankara ill at ease with its private fighters in northern Syria

While it is still not clear who perpetrated the deadly attack in Istanbul on 13 November, a theory that Syrian fighters could be responsible has begun to surface in Ankara. This comes on the back of already growing disquiet between these fighters and their sponsor.

Syria, Turkey
Turkish intelligence plays ambiguous game in north-west Syria

Following the capture of the district of Afrin by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Turkish intelligence service MIT is unsure whether to condemn the group, with which it maintains relations, or turn a blind eye to its activities.

Iraq
Groupe ADP picks ex-Baghdad mayor Habbobi to handle its only project in Iraq

Though it lost out on a contract in Mosul, the French airports operator still has a project on the go in the south of Iraq, in Kerbala. It has picked local bigwig Manhal Al Habbobi to see it through.

Iraq, Turkey
Hakan Fidan makes his moves on Iraq's complex political chessboard

The Turkish spymaster, tasked with meeting Iraqi politicians, now stands accused of interfering in the country's internal affairs. But this hasn't stopped him discreetly calling for the formation of a government that would guarantee Ankara's security and economic interests.

Palestine, Syria
Moscow and Tehran behind Syria-Hamas reconciliation

Damascus and Hamas officially buried the hatchet on 16 September, after a decade of dispute, in a deal brokered by Russia and Iran that gives the Palestinian faction the lead over Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah.

Egypt, Turkey
Abbas Kamel bets on experienced spies to mend broken ties with Ankara

Egypt's spymaster has devoted his best men to bridging the divide between Egypt and Turkey. Reconciliation has become a strategic matter for both parties, especially with regards to the thorny issue of the Muslim Brotherhood whose members are in exile in Turkey.

Syria, Turkey
Turkish and Syrian spy chiefs Hakan Fidan and Ali Mamlouk talk again at Russia's initiative

Keen to play the role of mediator between Turkey and Syria, Russia sponsored a new meeting between the spy chiefs of the two countries, which have been at daggers drawn since 2011. The results were not convincing but the meeting at least allowed Ankara and Damascus to set out their demands.

Egypt, Turkey
Turkish and Egyptian spymasters eye deal on Muslim Brotherhood extradition

Ankara, bent on regional reconciliation, is hoping to finalise the normalisaion of its relations with Cairo. It is ready to concede on the issue of extraditing exiled Muslim Brotherhood members, a non-negotiable condition for Egypt.

Iraq
Security tensions high in Iraq's overcrowded Sinjar Mountain region

Various Iraqi and foreign interests with shifting alliances, including Turkey, Iran and the US, have added to the instability in Iraq's Sinjar region.

Syria, Turkey
Turkish and Syrian spymasters making furtive moves to prepare for future normalisation

Though far from singing the praises of Bashar Al Assad's regime, Ankara recognises that the regime's continued existence points to a need to restore dialogue between the two countries. Turkey's intelligence service, the MIT, is taking the first steps towards this.

Turkey, Ukraine
MIT drives Ankara's cautious pro-Ukraine stance

Keen to show its support to Kyiv without alienating Russia, Turkey has had a fine balancing act to play since the start of the Ukraine conflict. Continued drone sales to Volodymyr Zelensky have put its relations with Moscow to the test.