Ali Babacan

Ali Babacan (born 1967 in Ankara, Sereflikochisar ) is a Turkish politician, former Foreign Minister of Turkey and Deputy since 1 May 2009, Prime Minister and Minister of State. Babacan is a member of the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AK Party).

Life

Babacan left the TED Ankara College private school in 1985 as valedictorian. He then studied at the Technical University in Ankara, the Middle East and got his bachelor's degree. With a scholarship from the Fulbright Program Babacan went to the U.S. in 1992 and made his master's degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Babacan was Minister of State for Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Gül and Erdoğan in the first Cabinet. From 29 August 2007, he was a member of the Second Erdoğan Cabinet until May 1, 2009 Foreign Minister and then Minister of State for Economic Affairs, Banking and Treasury. Until the appointment of Egemen Bagis Minister for Europe in January 2009, he was also coordinator for Turkey's accession negotiations with the European Union.