How Turkish intelligence scored much-needed success
Turkey's National Intelligence Organization says it recently made an arrest in a counterespionage case, saving the design secrets of government-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corp.’s first nationally produced rifle.
In 2013, Al-Monitor columnist Amberin Zaman penned a piece for another publication titled “Hakan Fidan, So Very Sexy” to explain how crucial Fidan's role as director of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) is in Turkish politics — hence, the media’s persistent focus on his actions.
Intelligence agencies are not spared when there is a failure, and the MIT has been no exception. Consecutive terror attacks, leaked private conversations and foreign policy mistakes have all been major headaches for Fidan. In a sense, he has been President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s shield. After finding multiple chinks in his armor, we now see some signs of change for Fidan.
On April 7, news broke that Mustafa Tanriverdi, the head of the weapons factory of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corp. (MKE), had been taken into custody for allegedly trying to sell weaponry design secrets to a US firm. The charges against him are serious and multiple: taking bribes, profiting from state secrets, military espionage and treason.
Al-Monitor recently spoke with three senior MIT bureaucrats on a conference call. They explained that Tanriverdi is an engineer who is fluent in English as well as in German and had acquired a master’s degree in Germany. He has been working for the MKE since 1987. The MIT officials told Al-Monitor they found 29,000 euros (about $33,000) and $1,500 in foreign currency while searching Tanriverdi’s house after his arrest. There were also 50-60 CDs with various weaponry designs and technical information considered state secrets.
