The composition of his new government was announced yesterday by the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, putting two new faces in the two critical ministries for Greece, Foreign Affairs and Defense, and leaving out of the cabinet our “familiar” Cavusoglu and Akar.

Hakan Fidan now takes over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while the Ministry of Defense takes over the Ministry of Defense Yasar Güler, until today the Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces.

Who is Hakan Fidan – Head of the Intelligence Service (MIT) of Turkey

Hakan Fidan is a Turkish diplomat and was the head of Turkey’s Intelligence Service (MIT) from 2010 to the present.

According to Wikipedia, he is known for his contribution to Turkish national security and his involvement in various diplomatic and intelligence operations.

Hakan Fidan was born in 1968 in Ankara, Turkey.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in management and political science from the University of Maryland Global Campus. He then received his MA and PhD from Bilkent University. He worked as a non-commissioned officer in the Turkish army from 1986 to 2001.

At the international level, Fidan has served in two specialized agencies of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization for Industrial Development (UNIDO).

Fidan was the head of the Turkish Intelligence Service from 25 May 2010 to 7 February 2015, when he resigned his post to run for parliament, aiming to represent Erdogan’s party. However, on 9 March 2015, exactly 30 days later, he withdrew his candidacy. He was appointed back to his position within hours, where he remained until today, when he was appointed Turkey’s new foreign minister.

The other ministries are distributed as follows:

Minister of Economy and Finance takes over, as expected, the economist Mehmet Simsek, who is in favor of economic “orthodoxy” and favors raising interest rates. His appointment is expected to mark the end of Erdogan’s years of “unorthodox” economic policies, such as lowering interest rates despite high inflation and state control of markets. Simsek was finance minister and deputy prime minister between 2009-2018.

The Ministry of Defense takes over Yasar Gulerthe current Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces.

Alparslan Bayraktar was appointed Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.

Suleiman Soylu was removed, as expected, from the Ministry of Interior, which is taken over by Ali Yerlikaya.

The other ministries are distributed as follows:

Justice: Yilmaz Touds

of Family and Social Services: Mahinur Ezdemir Goktas

of Labor and Social Insurance: Vedat Isihan

of Environment and Climate Change: Mehmet Ozaseki

Youth and Sports: Osman Askin Bak

of Culture and Tourism: Mehmet Nuri Ersoy

of National Education: Yusuf Tekin

Health: Fahrettin Koca

Industry and Technology: Mehmet Fatih Katzir

of Agriculture and Forestry: Ibrahim Youmakli

Commerce: Omer Bolat

of Transport and Infrastructure: Abdulkadir Uraloglou.