Ali Babacan was born in Ankara in 1967.

He graduated first in the Class of 1985 from the TED Ankara High School.

In 1989, he received a Bachelor of Science Degree (BS) in Industrial Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, where he ranked first among the graduates of that year.

In 1990, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and attended the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing, Organizational Behavior and International Business in 1992.

From 1992 to 1994, he worked at a Chicago-based company providing financial consulting services to top executives of major banks in the United States.

Subsequently, he returned to Ankara to run his family business from 1994 until 2002.

In 2001, he became a Founding Member and Board Member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

At the general elections held in November 2002, he was elected to Parliament and appointed as the Minister of State in charge of Economy, a cabinet position he retained throughout the 58th and 59th Governments of the Republic of Turkey until August 2007.

In addition to his tenure as Minister of State in charge of Economy, on June 3, 2005, he was appointed as Chief Negotiator in Turkey’s accession negotiations with the European Union.

At the general elections held on 22 July 2007 he was re-elected to the Parliament.

On August 29, 2007, he was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the 60th Government of the Republic of Turkey.

He is married with two children. 

Speeches of Ali Babacan 
Turkish Texts