Germany is witnessing a first in its history. For the first time, a person with a migrant background, Sinan Selen, has been appointed head of the country’s domestic intelligence service, the BfV. Born in Istanbul and brought to Germany as a child, Selen reached this post through his legal training and his experience in the security bureaucracy.

This appointment is a personal success story, but it is also important for the questions it raises: how migrant identity is positioned in public institutions, along which axis Turkish-German relations are moving, and how Europe’s security priorities are taking shape.

To understand Selen’s rise, let us look at his personal story, his education and the steps of his career.

(Note: At the end of the article you can read a summary of Germany’s intelligence structure.)

Sinan Selen Kimdir?

Sinan Selen was born in Istanbul in 1972. At the age of four he settled with his family in Cologne, Germany, because of the work of his parents, journalists at the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle who held a secular worldview. Growing up in Cologne, Selen was active in his community and at school: he wrote for his high school’s student newspaper and from an early age worked as a volunteer first aider with a local Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (first aid and ambulance) service.

These early experiences fed his interest in public service and security. Selen studied law at the University of Cologne, focusing on justice and home affairs policy in Europe and on European law. This strong academic grounding in law and security later formed the basis of his career as a counter-terrorism expert and constitutional lawyer.

After working briefly as a lawyer in private practice, Selen began his career in public security in 2000 when he joined the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). From then on, he held various posts in Germany’s security bureaucracy:

• Starting his career at the BKA, Selen was for a time part of the close protection team of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
• After the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, he served on the investigative team in Hamburg,
• in 2006 he personally led the operation that quickly caught the perpetrators of the bombs planted on trains in Cologne and Koblenz.
• Following these successes, at the end of 2006 he was appointed head of the Division for Terrorism and Extremism by Foreigners at the German Federal Ministry of the Interior,
• from 2009 to 2012 he was deputy head of the Department for Combating Crime at Federal Police Headquarters, working on illegal immigrant smuggling and piracy among other things,
• and from 2012 he was responsible for the operational aspects of counter-terrorism in the Interior Ministry’s Directorate-General for Public Security.
• In early 2016, the German government appointed Sinan Selen as special representative in the counter-terrorism and refugee cooperation talks with Turkey. In this critical role, Selen represented Germany in the security negotiations held with Turkish officials in Ankara. During the talks, Selen openly opposed Turkey’s requests for the extradition of members of the Gülen movement in Germany.
• According to press reports, at these meetings Selen mostly spoke German and acted as “an official of the German state”, helping his interpreter in Turkish only when necessary. The German press also highlighted the fact that Selen, a dual citizen for a long time, chose to give up his Turkish citizenship and keep only his German citizenship. This attitude showed that, despite his Turkish origins, he remained loyal to the primacy of German law, and it earned him respect in German security circles.
• Although Selen worked in the private sector from 2016 to 2018 (as Director of Security at the world-famous tourism company TUI), in November 2018 he returned to public service and was appointed a senior official at the German domestic intelligence service, the BfV (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution).

2019–2025: BfV Başkan Yardımcılığından Başkanlığa

In 2019 Sinan Selen was appointed vice president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), becoming the first senior intelligence official in Germany with a migrant background. In 2025 he was put at the head of the agency, this time becoming the first BfV president with a migrant background. On both occasions, reactions in Turkey, in politics as well as in the media, took a similar shape: cautious interest mixed with silence, in which pride and wariness stood side by side.

The Approach of the Turkish Media

The 2019 appointment as vice president had received wide coverage in the Turkish media. Mainstream and pro-government media outlets announced the development as “a historic first” and presented the rise of a person of Turkish origin in German intelligence in news-agency language, accompanied by biographical details. The current appointment as president was presented as an integration success story, with emphasis on Selen’s many years of experience as vice president.

Media circles opposed to the government covered the news by highlighting Selen’s career and migrant identity.

The newspaper Yeni Akit, by contrast, used provocative language, stressing that Selen was “a figure who opposed the extradition of FETÖ members”.

The Stance of Turkish Politicians and an Overall Assessment

On neither occasion was there a direct statement from Ankara’s official authorities. President Erdoğan, Foreign Ministers Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (2019) and Hakan Fidan (2025) and the MİT published no public message of congratulation or criticism. We can point to two main reasons behind this:

• The first is diplomatic custom. The appointment may be regarded as a matter of German domestic politics, and an official announcement of the start date may have been awaited.
• The second is political calculation. After 15 July, Germany did not meet Ankara’s expectations regarding the Gülen movement, and Turkey remained cautious especially because Selen acted on this issue “like a German official”.

The 2019 appointment was therefore viewed somewhere between “symbolic pride” and “cautious suspicion”, while in 2025 this picture turned into a more realistic acceptance. Ankara foresaw that Selen would not deviate from the line of German state policy, while the media both wrote the story of a success with migrant roots and did not hesitate to point out that he might keep his distance from Turkey’s sensitivities.

Selen’s rise has thus become a symbol of the integration debates in Germany while also revealing mixed feelings in Turkey about the international positioning of bureaucrats with diaspora roots.

Reactions from Germany and Europe

Sinan Selen’s appointment as BfV president caused a great stir in Germany. Centrist politicians and the mainstream press generally welcomed the appointment, highlighting his more than 20 years of experience. Figures such as Roderich Kiesewetter of the CDU and Konstantin von Notz of the Greens emphasised Selen’s expertise in counter-terrorism and counter-espionage. The Interior Minister described Selen as “an experienced security expert”.

The far-right AfD camp, however, reacted harshly, recalling Selen’s role in the reports that classified the party as a “confirmed right-wing extremist organisation”. In February 2026 the Cologne Administrative Court, in an interim ruling, suspended this classification until a decision on the merits. Pro-AfD publications targeted his Turkish origins and claimed he would not be impartial. In far-right circles, comments that even extended to conspiracy theories such as “the Islamisation of Germany” came to the fore. Centrist and centre-left politicians, by contrast, defended Selen on the basis of merit, while in left-wing circles concern was voiced that he would take a hard line against PKK sympathisers.

Reactions in European countries differed along the lines of their migration policies. In Hungary and Poland, where anti-migrant rhetoric is strong, pro-government media reported the news with headlines such as “A Muslim migrant takes over German intelligence”. These comments aimed to criticise Germany for an “excess of multiculturalism” by foregrounding Selen’s origins. In countries with moderate migration policies such as France, Spain and Sweden, by contrast, the news was reported in a more neutral way, focusing on Selen’s career and expertise. In these circles, Selen’s rise was seen as a symbol of Germany’s integration success.

The Perspective of the Turkish Diaspora

Within the Turkish diaspora, different voices came to the fore. Alevis found his secular background and his origins in a family of journalists a source of pride in terms of integration, while taking a cautious approach because of sensitivities related to the far left and the Kurdish movement. The Kurdish diaspora, especially PKK sympathisers, viewed Selen’s firm stance on counter-terrorism negatively. Members of the Gülen movement, on the other hand, appear to have welcomed the appointment, as they see Selen as a bureaucrat who stood up to Turkey’s extradition requests after 2016 and defended the rule of law.

Sonuç ve Genel Değerlendirme

His role, according to official sources, in preventing 11 terrorist attacks in Germany during his time as vice president was highlighted as one of the outstanding steps in his career. Both his operational experience in the field and his policy experience at ministerial level made him a versatile security expert. His giving up dual citizenship and renouncing his Turkish citizenship was also seen as a symbol that his loyalty was unquestionably directed towards Germany.

His Approach to Key Issues

• Priorities and Warnings: In his work at the BfV, Selen particularly underlined the far-right threat. He supported closer monitoring of neo-Nazi networks and of structures within the AfD. At the same time he remained vigilant against jihadist groups.
• Espionage Activities: His warnings about the espionage activities of countries such as Russia, China and Iran merged with views pointing to the need for a “paradigm shift” in security policy.

• The Kurdish Question: On this issue, Selen’s approach was limited to defending Germany’s line of regarding the PKK as a terrorist organisation. By rejecting Ankara’s broad, politically motivated extradition requests, he also maintained a red line on civil liberties.
• Alevis: He adopted no sectarian or religious stance. Because of his secular background and professional focus, he remained neutral towards this community.
• The Gülen Movement: He acted in line with Germany’s sceptical stance on 15 July and the Gülen question. Selen argued against criminalising the movement wholesale and for focusing, on the basis of law, only on concrete offences.

Relations with the Erdoğan-AKP Government

Although the AKP government and its supporters initially welcomed Selen’s success, they are also aware that his Turkish identity will not provide automatic support for Turkish interests. Although President Erdoğan and his team have not spoken publicly about Selen, pro-government media painted a positive picture by highlighting Selen’s career and Turkish origins. Even so, some pro-AKP outlets and commentators did not fail to express reservations, especially because of Selen’s stance on the “FETÖ” issue and on opposition figures living in Germany.

Appointed in 2016 by the German Interior Ministry as special representative coordinating security talks with Turkey, Selen opposed Ankara’s extradition requests for members of the Gülen movement and opponents. The fact that he conducted the talks mostly in German during this process was interpreted as a determination to put German law and its independence first. This attitude earned him respect in German security circles as “an official committed to the rule of law”.

Selen’s rejection of the “extradition lists” Ankara sent after 15 July stood out as an expression of Germany’s determination to preserve its independence in the face of external pressure. He took Germany’s security interests, not the Turkish government’s political agenda, as his basis. This refuted both the suspicions in Ankara and the baseless claims of far-right circles in Germany about “Turkey’s imposition”.

In public, Selen has remained a low-profile, work-focused bureaucrat. His story has been interpreted as a powerful example of integration, symbolising the rise of a child with a migrant background to the top of Germany’s domestic intelligence.

In conclusion,

Looking at the overall picture, within Germany Selen was presented as a meritorious expert, while the extremes attacked him on the basis of his origins. In Europe, comments varied according to migration policies; within the diaspora, different groups reacted positively or cautiously according to their own sensitivities.

Of course, we do not know what time will bring. In the context of international relations, interest-driven approaches and domestic security concerns may lead to the suspension of the expectation of consistency with past policies. As long as the rule of law and the defence and protection of fundamental human rights are not abandoned.

EK: Almanya’nın İstihbarat Yapılanması

At federal level, Germany’s intelligence system consists of three main agencies that report to the federal government:

• BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst): Responsible for foreign intelligence; it gathers political, military and economic information. It can be compared to the US foreign intelligence agency, the CIA, and reports to the Federal Chancellery.
• BfV (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz): Monitors domestic threats; it focuses on far-right and far-left organisations, radical Islamist groups, foreign intelligence activities and issues such as the PKK. Other structures that threaten the constitutional order (e.g. the Reichsbürger movement) also fall within its remit. It is based in Cologne and reports to the Ministry of the Interior.
• MAD (Militärischer Abschirmdienst): Works to prevent espionage, extremism and sabotage within the German armed forces and carries out the detection of extremism (especially right-wing extremism) and security vetting among Bundeswehr personnel. It reports to the Ministry of Defence.

In addition, as a requirement of the federal structure, each state (Land) has its own Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV). These agencies monitor threats within the state and work in coordination with the BfV. Joint centres in which federal and state agencies work together (e.g. GETZ) ensure information sharing.

In Germany there is no independent intelligence agency at city or municipal level. Work carried out locally is conducted directly by the LfV of the state concerned.

The three federal intelligence agencies, the BND, BfV and MAD, are overseen by the Parliamentary Oversight Panel (Parlamentarisches Kontrollgremium, PKGr) in the Federal Parliament; the state offices are subject to oversight at state level. The PKGr checks whether the intelligence agencies operate within the law and ensures parliamentary accountability.

In conclusion, Germany’s intelligence system rests on a three-pillar federal structure: the BND (foreign), the BfV (domestic) and the MAD (military). The LfVs in the states complete this structure. The system works with both central coordination and strict democratic oversight mechanisms.