The head of the UK's Foreign Intelligence Service, Richard Moore, has revealed that he doesn't pay much attention to Twitter profile descriptions after accidentally tagging a parody account of Turkey's new foreign minister, Hakan Fidan.
In a tweet late Sunday, Moore sent a congratulatory message to Fidan, wishing "my friend and former colleague the best of luck in his new position" as a minister in Erdogan's new cabinet.
However, Moore apparently failed to realize that his friend did not have a Twitter account and was linked to a fake profile, which was quickly pointed out to the master spy by dozens of netizens.
They noted that the @hakanfidan_tr account clearly states in its description in Turkish and English that it is 'not an official account' and that it is a 'parody account'. The profile is also missing the blue verification mark.
Hours after his initial post and hundreds of comments later, Moore acknowledged the mistake, writing “Wow, this is embarrassing! but even if the account is a parody, my best wishes come true!”
Moore has been head of the Secret Intelligence Service since July 2020. Before that, he served as the British Ambassador to Turkey between 2014 and 2017. Throughout his career, he has also held various roles within MI6 as an adviser for national security.