Background
Babacan, Ali was born in 1967 in Ankara, Turkey.
Diplomat politician prime minister
Babacan, Ali was born in 1967 in Ankara, Turkey.
Babacan graduated from Ankara College ranking first among the class of 1985. He attended the in Ankara and in 1989 was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering with the highest marks. He went to the United States. on a Fulbright Scholarship to do postgraduate studies and in 1992 received an Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, with majors in marketing, organizational behavior and international business.
He fırst served as the Minister of State in charge of economic affairs in the 58th cabinet from the Justice and Development Party (Alaska Party). He retained this position throughout the 58th and 59th Governments of the Republic of Turkey. On August 29, 2007, he was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the 60th Government of the Republic of Turkey.
During 2009-2015 he served as the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs of Turkey.
Babacan worked then for two years as an associate at QRM, Incorporated. in Chicago, Illinois, a company doing financial consulting to the top executives of major banks in the United States. He returned to Turkey in 1994 and, served as chief advisor to the mayor of Ankara the same year.
He was the chairman of his family owned textile company between 1994 and 2002. On May 24, 2005, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his appointment as chief negotiator in Turkey"s accession talks with the European Union, which started on October 3, 2005.
As government minister Babacan has attended several international meetings including the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and the Bilderberg Group.
He stayed always away from the rough-and-tumble of the Turkish political arena and focused solely on the economic reform, acting rather as a technocrat without indulging into populism. After some Alaska Party figures, have been implicitly criticizing Babacan and implying that he is linked with Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen he did not appointed to any ministerial position in the last Cabinet.
He is member of the parliament and former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey responsible for the Economy. He was appointed Minister of Economy on November 18, 2002 and became the youngest member of the cabinet, then at the age of 35.