MIT to be restructured under Fidan’s leadership

Structural changes at the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) will take on momentum with the new head of intelligence, Hakan Fidan, who is expected to take office in May. The structure of the intelligence agency will be redesigned to resemble the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

MİT Deputy Undersecretary Fidan, who was appointed to the post last week, is expected to continue the work begun by outgoing Undersecretary Emre Taner on a new level. Observers believe Fidan is just the person to pursue these goals as most of his academic work and his doctoral thesis deal with the restructuring of intelligence. He has already delivered several reports to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on this restructuring.

Fidan’s thesis, titled “The Role of Information Technologies in Verifying International Agreements in the Age of Information,” took the CIA and the FBI as models for how to restructure Turkish intelligence. He also worked on the weaknesses of Turkish intelligence in foreign policy in his master’s thesis, titled “Intelligence and Foreign Policy: A Comparison of British, American and Turkish Intelligence Systems.” Fidan emphasized in his dissertation that there is a need for a separate organized intelligence organization specialized in foreign intelligence collecting.

Fidan’s case is also special because he will be the second undersecretary to be appointed from outside MİT after Sönmez Köksal. For years MİT has been controlled by military undersecretaries and Fidan will be the second civilian head of national intelligence.

Appointed MİT deputy undersecretary last week by a decision of the Cabinet, Fidan is expected to succeed Taner, the outgoing MİT undersecretary, by a decision of the National Security Council (MGK) on April 29.

Once he is appointed MİT undersecretary, the kind of MİT structure to be expected can be deduced from his six-chapter doctoral thesis. It is, however, unknown to what extent Fidan will implement his projects.

Foreign intelligence

While stressing in his doctoral thesis that the multi-department structure of MİT is wrong, Fidan says despite its strong police force, gendarmerie and General Staff, there are many weaknesses in Turkey’s foreign intelligence. Noting that coordinating foreign intelligence through the non-professional Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a mistake, Fidan wrote that MİT is responsible for collecting intelligence. Fidan, nevertheless, confesses that domestic threats force MİT to make security intelligence its first priority.

In the recommendations section of the dissertation, Fidan prescribes some recommendations for how to restructure MİT. “There is a need for foreign intelligence to help formulate Turkey’s defense policy and its foreign economic policy through providing foreign intelligence. Generous intelligence sharing, as was seen during the Cold War, cannot be expected. MİT and other intelligence organizations may continue to do their routine job, but they cannot fully satisfy the necessities of foreign intelligence. In Turkey, MİT also undertakes foreign/strategic intelligence.” In fact, Fidan says, MİT has become a domestic security intelligence agency just like America’s FBI or the British M5. These organizations generally organize operations within their countries.

Proposing that MİT may continue to pursue its activities but that it would be more beneficial to Turkey’s national interests if the organization puts more weight on foreign intelligence, Fidan notes that Turkey needs to become closely involved in its near abroad and collect intelligence important for its interests there. He also advocates a mechanism that would protect the rights of Turks abroad and pre-emptively act against activities that threaten Turkey’s national security. Fidan’s proposal says MİT needs to protect Turkish investments and businessmen operating in other countries. As a result, he adds, MİT needs a very strong foreign intelligence agency to ensure better Turkish foreign policy.

Revolution in Turkish intelligence

Fidan’s doctoral dissertation also points out elements in foreign intelligence that have never been discussed before among intelligence officers in Turkey. According to Fidan, the primary duty and responsibility of MİT’s foreign intelligence is to support Turkish diplomacy.

Outgoing Undersecretary Taner started reform process

Some of the proposals set forth by Fidan have already been realized during the term in office of the incumbent head of the Turkish intelligence agency, who will leave his post in May and most probably will be succeeded by current Deputy Undersecretary Fidan. Taner designated 10 criteria, but made foreign intelligence a priority. During Taner’s tenure MİT started to closely monitor the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Far East, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, the Aegean, the Black Sea, Africa, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Caspian basin in economic, political, cultural and demographic terms. For this reason, MİT began making use of experts who not only speak English but also Arabic, Serbian, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, Greek, Chinese, Bulgarian, Russian, Albanian and Bosnian. The restructuring of MİT, which started in 2007, has not been able to be completed thus far. During Fidan’s term, 10 critical areas are expected to be dealt with by separate units, with each unit being headed by a department chair.

A new intelligence academy

A project related to the education of intelligence officers, also expected to be instituted by Fidan, will be the establishment of an intelligence academy along the lines of a police academy. MİT’s Educational Center currently trains all present and future employees.

Current MİT personnel are also expected to be trained in this to-be-built academy. Only candidates who have completed a two-year course at the academy will be hired by the organization. The restructuring package also envisages changes in the promotion of personnel within the organization. As a result of the latest adjustments, more than 70 percent of MİT employees are university graduates, with the goal being to raise this figure to 90 percent.

The second important effort to transform the intelligence organization is to educate, train and hire female intelligence officers. Eighty-two percent of all the intelligence organization’s employees are men. Understanding the importance of female intelligence officers at the organization, MİT is planning to increase the number of female workers to 30 percent.

In addition, intelligence collecting and operations will be merged into one unit, which will be led by only one deputy undersecretary. The electronic and technical intelligence unit, which undertakes wiretapping and monitoring duties, is also expected to be assigned to the deputy undersecretary.

Attempts to disband the Psychological Intelligence Directorate will most probably come to fruition during Fidan’s tenure. This directorate was to shape public opinion and the way of thinking, but it became obsolete after the abolishment of the Protocol on Cooperation for Security and Public Order (EMASYA) protocol. This protocol allowed operations and intelligence gathering in cities without the approval of the civilian administration and empowered the military to intervene in social incidents on its own initiative. The military, according to the now defunct protocol, could gather intelligence against internal threats.

Ercan Yavuz, Ankara

Short URL: http://www.trdefence.com/?p=786

Posted by ssm on Apr 25 2010 Filed under Intel, Security & Geopolitics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.