President Erdoğan resents MİT Chief Fidan ’s resignation

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stated that he is still resentful about the resignation of Hakan Fidan, the chief of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MİT) in order to run for parliament in the upcoming general elections.

Speaking to journalists on his way back from his recent trip to Saudi Arabia, Erdoğan said that he was not pleased about Fidan's decision. "The MİT is not an ordinary institution, it is the most important institution of the Turkish state" Erdoğan said, adding that he had appointed Fidan as the chief of MİT and he should not have left his post.

The president expressed his resentment that Fidan had ignored his suggestion and said he should have taken it more seriously before resigning to run for parliament.

Erdoğan underlined that it is impossible for a state to survive if the intelligence organization of that state is weak, and implied that Fidan was the most suitable pick for the job.

Hakan Fidan resigned in early February to run for a seat in Parliament in the upcoming general elections on June 7. Political circles claim Fidan has the potential to be the next foreign minister of Turkey as the current Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will be ineligible to run for Parliament in the next elections due to a party bylaw that limits deputies to three consecutive terms. Currently, İsmail Hakkı Musa the current MİT deputy secretary, is serving as acting head.

Fidan was appointed MİT chief by then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May 2010. Before his appointment to the MİT, Fidan worked in Erdoğan's office as a deputy undersecretary. He successfully served as the head of the Turkish Development and Cooperation Agency (TİKA) and also served in the Turkish Armed Forces as a non-commissioned officer for 15 years between 1986 and 2001.