Ali Babacan (Turkish pronunciation:[aˈlibabaˈdʒan]; born 4 April 1967) is a Turkish politician, economist, and engineer. He is the founder and current leader of theDemocracy and Progress Party (DEVA). He served 13 years as theMinister of Foreign Affairs,Minister of Economy,Chief Negotiator for the EU andDeputy Prime Minister of Turkey from 2002 to 2015. He was a member ofthe parliament as well.
He first served as the Minister of State in charge of economic affairs in the58th cabinet from theJustice and Development Party (AKP). He retained this position throughout the 58th and 59th Governments of theRepublic of Turkey. On 29 August 2007 he was appointed as theMinister of Foreign Affairs of the 60th Government of the Republic of Turkey.[1] During 2009–2015, he served as the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs of Turkey.
Ali Babacan had the duty of steering a harsh economic reform program, which was backed by multibillion-dollarIMF loans; under his leadership, theTurkish economy achieved a remarkable recovery after two severe crises.[2][3] He mostly stayed away from the Turkish political arena and focused on economic reforms, acting more like atechnocrat.
In 2019, Babacan left the AKP, citing "deep differences" over the party's direction as a reason, and founded theDemocracy and Progress Party (DEVA) in 2020.[4] DEVA eventually joined theNation Alliance, opposing AKP and Turkish presidentErdoğan.
Ali Babacan graduated fromTED Ankara College ranking first among the class of 1985.[5] He attended theMiddle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara and in 1989 was awarded aBSc in Industrial Engineering with the highest marks (4.00 point out of 4.00).[5]
Babacan went to theU.S. on aFulbright Scholarship to do postgraduate studies and in 1992 received anMBA from theKellogg School of Management at Northwestern University inEvanston,Illinois, with majors in marketing, organizational behavior and international business.[5]
Babacan worked then for two years as an associate at QRM, Inc. inChicago, Illinois, a company doing financial consulting to the top executives of major banks in the United States.[5] 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.[6]
He entered politics in 2001 as a co-founder and a board member of theJustice and Development Party[7] and was elected toparliament as deputy forAnkara on 3 November 2002. He was appointedMinister of Economy on 18 November 2002 and became the youngest member of the cabinet, then at the age of 35.[8]
On 24 May 2005 Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his appointment as chief negotiator in Turkey's accession talks with theEuropean Union,[9] which started on 3 October 2005.[10] As government minister Babacan attended several international meetings including theWorld Economic Forum inDavos,Switzerland, and theBilderberg Group.
In 2019, Babacan left the rulingAKP, citing "deep differences" over the party's direction as a reason.[11]
Babacan confirmed his intent to form this party in a late 2019 interview with journalist Şirin Payzın of T24, and expects his party to be a "mainstream party" with particular focuses on minority rights, a return to Turkey's parliamentary system, fair processes in courts and legislation, and restoring freedom of speech and expression. Babacan is quoted as saying that "the nation will give our party its name".[12]
On 9 March 2020, he foundedDemocracy and Progress Party, abbreviated as "DEVA" or "remedy" in Turkish.[4] The DEVA Party held its first meeting of the Board of Founders on 10 March 2020, where he was unanimously elected Chairman.
Babacan is married and has three children.[13] He also speaksEnglish.[13]
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{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Economic Affairs 2002–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Second Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey 2007–2015 | Succeeded by |
Gül Cabinet (2002–2003) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Abdullah Gül (2002–2003) | .svg) |
| Deputy Prime Ministers | ||
| Minister of State | ||
| Minister of Justice | Cemil Çiçek (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of National Defense | Mehmet Vecdi Gönül (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Interior | Abdülkadir Aksu (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Yaşar Yakış (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Finance | Kemal Unakıtan (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of National Education | Erkan Mumcu (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Public Works and Settlement | Zeki Ergezen (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Health | Recep Akdağ (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Transport and Communication | Binali Yıldırım (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Agriculture | Sami Güçlü (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Labour and Social Security | Murat Başesgioğlu (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Industry and Commerce | Ali Coşkun (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Energy and Natural Resources | Mehmet Hilmi Güler (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Culture | Hüseyin Çelik (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Tourism | Güldal Akşit (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Environment | İmdat Sütlüoğlu (2002–2003) | |
| Minister of Forestry | Osman Pepe (2002–2003) | |
