ISTANBUL

Turkey's intelligence chief Hakan Fidan resigned late Friday night to participate in the upcoming June 7 general elections, the prime ministry said.

Public servants holding state posts have to resign by Feb. 10 to become eligible for Member of Parliament candidates.

Fidan held the top office of the National Intelligence Organization or the MIT since May, 2010. Before, he worked as deputy undersecretary when Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the prime minister.

He has been an influential figure in Turkey and made the headlines several times mainly related to Turkey's solution process and its Middle East policy.