Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MİT) | |
Emblem of the National Intelligence Organization
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Agency overview | |
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Formed | July 22, 1965 |
Preceding agency | |
Jurisdiction | Government of Turkey |
Headquarters | Çankaya, Ulus, Ankara, Turkey |
Employees | 8,000 |
Annual budget | 1.06 billion (2014) |
Agency executive |
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Website | mit.gov.tr |
The National Intelligence Organization (Turkish: Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) is the governmental intelligence organization of Turkey. It was established in 1965 to replace the National Security Service.
According to the former director of Foreign Operations, Yavuz Ataç, the military presence in the organization is negligible. This is a recent development, as the organization has a military heritage. In 1990, the fraction of military personnel was 35%. Today it has dropped to 4.5% in the lower echelons a former deputy undersecretary Cevat Öneş said that the MİT suffered with each coup, as the military junta that took over the organization had its own set of priorities.
In order to ensure reliability, the organization has historically recruited from relatives of existing employees. The former undersecretary, Emre Taner, says that this is no longer the case. He is credited with reducing the between the MİT and the police intelligence, as well as infighting inside the MİT itself. Taner announced a restructuring of the MİT at the start of 2009.
The MİT co-operates with American and Russian intelligence agencies.
The MİT, which exists to serve the Republic of Turkey and is furnished with duties and responsibilities in line with this aim, is in charge of collecting nationwide security intelligence on existing and potential threats from internal and external sources posed against the territory, people and integrity, the existence, independence, security, and all the other elements that compose the constitutional order and the national power of the Republic of Turkey. The MİT is in charge of communicating collected intelligence to the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief of the General Staff, the Secretary General of the National Security Council and other relevant state organizations as necessary.
The MİT is in charge of counterintelligence activities in Turkey. The MİT cannot be given any other duty and cannot be led to any other field of activity than collecting intelligence concerning the security of the Republic. The MİT engages in a proactive cyber defence program for Turkey and the use of cyberwarfare as a platform for attack. The Turkish Ministry of National Defence considers cybersecurity as the country's "fifth frontier" after land, air, sea and space. The MİT uses local cybersecurity solutions mostly developed by companies Havelsan and Tübitak.