Istanbul: The powerful head of Turkey's intelligence agency, one of the closest allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has resigned to stand for election as a lawmaker, the official Anatolia news agency said on Saturday.
The resignation of Hakan Fidan, who has headed the National Intelligence Agency (MIT) since 2010, could herald a major reshuffle of the Turkish government after June 7 legislative elections.
Turkey's press have in the last days speculated feverishly that Fidan's standing as an MP would set him up to become the new foreign minister. His resignation has been accepted by Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu and will take effect on Tuesday, Anatolia added.
As head of the MIT, Fidan has led negotiations with Kurdish militants for an end to a decades-long insurgency and has been a key player in Turkey's policy on the Syria crisis.
He was also instrumental in controversial talks that secured the release in September of almost 50 Turkish diplomats, staff and their kin who were kidnapped by IS rebels at the Turkish consulate in Mosul in Iraq.
The resignation of Hakan Fidan, who has headed the National Intelligence Agency (MIT) since 2010, could herald a major reshuffle of the Turkish government after June 7 legislative elections.
Turkey's press have in the last days speculated feverishly that Fidan's standing as an MP would set him up to become the new foreign minister. His resignation has been accepted by Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu and will take effect on Tuesday, Anatolia added.
As head of the MIT, Fidan has led negotiations with Kurdish militants for an end to a decades-long insurgency and has been a key player in Turkey's policy on the Syria crisis.
He was also instrumental in controversial talks that secured the release in September of almost 50 Turkish diplomats, staff and their kin who were kidnapped by IS rebels at the Turkish consulate in Mosul in Iraq.
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