DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 1, 2010, 8:39 PM (GMT+02:00)
Tags: Israeli intelligence 
Turkey Iran Ehud Barak
Ankara distanced itself further from the West last week by signing a pact with Iran for the exchange of intelligence in real time in their offensives against Kurdish separatists. Tehran will maintain a permanent intelligence officers' mission at the Turkish general command's operations department, while admitting Turkish officers to its own high command operations center. debkafile's intelligence sources report that while the exchanges are formally limited to the war on Kurdish insurgents, they are certain to spread to other spheres.
Israel is deeply concerned over this and other developments in the wake of the defection of Turkey, its erstwhile strategic partner and long trusted repository of shared military secrets.
Sunday, Aug. 1, defense minister Ehud Barak told the army radio: "… the nomination in recent weeks of a new chief of the Turkish secret services who is a supporter of Iran worries us." It could result, he said "in the Iranians having access to secret information."
Two months ago, debkafile reported that Turkish prime minister had appointed an avid admirer of Iran Hakan Fidan as new chief of MIT central intelligence agency.
Fidan made friends with Iranian officials during his stint as Turkish delegate to the International Atomic Energy Commission in Vienna and took their side consistently in controversies over Tehran's nuclear program.
It was he who came up with the plan earlier this year for a Turkish-Brazilian initiative to bypass big power diplomacy over Iran and scuttle their plans to place Iran under tough sanctions.
The intelligence exchange pact Ankara signed with Tehran last week added a fresh element to Israel's worries over Turkey's next steps.
Israel's Barak fears Turkey's spy chief is 'supporter of Iran'
 MİT chief Hakan Fidan. AA photo |
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has expressed concern over Turkey's appointment of a new spy chief he called a "supporter" of Iran, army radio reported Sunday.
"Turkey is a friendly country, a strategic ally, but the nomination in recent weeks of a new chief of the Turkish secret services who is a supporter of Iran worries us," he told a meeting of his center-left Labour party.
Barak added that the appointment could result in "the Iranians having access to secret information," in a recording of his remarks broadcast by military radio.
The Turkish official, Hakan Fidan, 42, was appointed to head the National Intelligence Organization, or MİT, on May 27 after serving as undersecretary for foreign affairs to the prime minister and representing Turkey at the International Atomic Energy Agency.( http://www.mit.gov.tr/english/index.html)
The latter position placed him at the forefront of Turkey's efforts to resolve the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program, according to the Turkish press.
Israel has viewed Turkey's efforts with suspicion, especially a deal brokered with Iran and Brazil in May that would have seen Iran ship some of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for high-enriched uranium.
The deal was promptly rejected by other world powers, which backed a fourth round of United Nations sanctions against Iran on June 9 over its refusal to halt its controversial uranium enrichment program.
Turkish-Israeli relations plunged to an all-time low following the deadly May 31 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which naval commandos shot dead eight Turks and one American citizen of Turkish descent.
Israel views Iran as its greatest strategic threat because of the nuclear program, which it believes is aimed at developing weapons.
Like the United States, Israel has said it prefers to resolve the nuclear standoff peacefully but has not ruled out a military strike.
Iran has always said its nuclear enrichment program is for purely civilian purposes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100801/wl_mideast_afp/irannucleardiplomacyisraelturkey
Israel fears Turkey spy chief is 'supporter of Iran'
AFP/File – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, seen here in February 2010, has expressed concern over Turkey's …
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has expressed concern over Turkey's appointment of a new spy chief he called a "supporter" of the Jewish state's archfoe Iran, army radio reported Sunday.
"Turkey is a friendly country, a strategic ally, but the nomination in recent weeks of a new chief of the Turkish secret services who is a supporter of Iran worries us," he told a meeting of his centre-left Labour party.
Barak added that the appointment could result in "the Iranians having access to secret information," in a recording of his remarks broadcast by military radio.
The Turkish official, Hakan Fidan, 42, was appointed to head the National Intelligence Organisation, known by its Turkish acronym MIT, on May 27 after serving as undersecretary for foreign affairs to the prime minister and representing Turkey at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The latter position placed him at the forefront of Turkey's efforts to resolve the international standoff over Iran's nuclear programme, according to the Turkish press.
Israel has viewed Turkey's efforts with suspicion, especially a deal brokered with Iran and Brazil in May that would have seen Iran ship some of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for high-enriched uranium.
The deal was promptly rejected by other world powers, which backed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran on June 9 over its refusal to halt its controversial uranium enrichment programme.
Turkish-Israeli relations plunged to an all-time low following the deadly May 31 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which naval commandos shot dead nine Turkish activists, one of whom was also a US citizen.
Israel views Iran as its greatest strategic threat because of the nuclear programme, which it believes is aimed at developing weapons, and the frequent predictions of the demise of the Jewish state by Iran's leaders.
Like the United States, Israel has said it prefers to resolve the nuclear standoff peacefully but has not ruled out a military strike.
Iran has always said its nuclear enrichment programme is for purely civilian purposes.
Newly appointed chief signals change at Turkish intelligence agency
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=new-chief-signals-change-in-mit-2010-05-26
 Hakan Fidan |
A former deputy undersecretary at the Prime Ministry has been appointed the new undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization, or MİT, following the retirement of Emre Taner.
Hakan Fidan was brought in as deputy undersecretary a month ago and had been following all units within the organization and receiving regular updates from Taner, who served as undersecretary for five years.
Previous to these developments, Fidan had been a deputy undersecretary at the Prime Ministry.
Fidan is expected to reconstruct the organization by separating the internal and foreign units.
On his way to Brazil on Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke to journalists about the new undersecretary.
"MİT’s main priority is foreign intelligence, and our new undersecretary will continue working hard to take the necessary steps in this direction. I presume he has already worked on any flaws or drawbacks. He will, of course, share these with us," Erdoğan said.
"We will sit and talk because they are the most important sources for the president, the chief of General Staff and me. They are the place we go to for foreign intelligence. So we have to bring this to the point where it’s more active and even clearer."
At age 42, Fidan is one of the younger undersecretaries to head MİT, with an impressive background to boot.
His resume includes 15 years in the Turkish Armed Forces, during which he worked at NATO's German-based Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, consultancy to the Australian Embassy in Ankara, and board membership at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He gained respect as the head of the Turkish Development and Cooperation Agency, or TİKA, where he completed many successful international operations from 2003 to 2007.
His work with TİKA caught the attention of Erdoğan, who was impressed enough to make Fidan his deputy undersecretary.
"MİT is entering a new era," journalist Murat Yetkin said in his column for Radikal. "If he can, some of the innovations he brings could be starting a separate electronic intelligence organization like the American NASA or the British GCHQ."
National Security Council convenes to name new intellegience chief
The National Security Council, or MGK, convened Thursday at the Çankaya Presidential Palace to review domestic and foreign polices and assign a new head of the National Intelligence Service, or MİT.
Chaired by President Abdullah Gül, the meeting had not yet ended when the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review went to be printed. Emre Taner, the acting chief of MİT, declined to extend his post for the next sixth months.
The government last week assigned Prime Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Hakan Fidan as the deputy undersecretary of MİT. This move triggered speculation that Fidan may be assigned to Taner’s post.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek left the meeting early to answer a censor motion in yesterday’s parliamentary session.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=erzincan-mit-chief-has-been-detained-2009-12-06
Erzincan MİT chief detained
The Erzincan chief of Turkey’s intelligence service has been detained, along with two coworkers, following allegations of involvement in the ongoing Ergenekon case.
Erzurum’s public prosecutor, Osman Şanal, raided the National Intelligence Organization, or MİT’s, Erzincan headquarters Saturday, arresting its chief, identified only by the initials Ş.D., and two others.
Extensive searches were carried out in the MİT building and the detainees’ homes.
Prior to the arrest, Şanal had also opened proceedings against Gendarmerie Intelligence Bureau Chief Ersin Ergut on Nov. 18 and Nov. 25.
The detainees will be questioned at Tunceli criminal court.
The Ergenekon case was opened after the discovery of 27 hand grenades June 12, 2007, in a shanty house in Istanbul’s Ümraniye district belonging to a retired non-commissioned officer.
The grenades were found to be the same as those used in the attacks on daily Cumhuriyet’s Istanbul offices in 2006.
The findings have led to scores of detentions, as more than 100 journalists, writers and politicians have been interrogated in connection to an alleged ultra-nationalist gang named Ergenekon that is accused of having sought to topple the government in 2009 by initially spreading chaos and mayhem. The case has since become a terror investigation.
The name Ergenekon originally comes from a pre-Islamic Turkish saga that tells of the Turks’ rescue from defeat by tricking their enemies under the guidance of a gray wolf.
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