The head of Turkey's intelligence service, Hakan Fidan, one of President Tayyip Erdogan's closest confidants, has resigned to run in a parliamentary election in June, two senior Turkish officials said on Saturday. Fidan, who played a key role in trying to stop the hacking of confidential state communications during a corruption scandal implicating Erdogan's inner circle last year, has been widely seen as a potential future foreign minister.
Fidan's move into politics would give Erdogan, who became Turkey's first popularly-elected head of state last August, another loyal ally in the top ranks of the ruling AK Party, helping him cement his grip on government. "He will make the best of any job in any place," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper as saying this week, describing Fidan as "brave and valiant".
His departure comes as Turkey faces a range of intelligence challenges, from its role in the international coalition against Islamic State militants across its southern border in Syria and Iraq to the threat posed to its own security by returning jihadists.