Ali Babacan (; born 4 April 1967) is a Turkish politician, economist, and engineer. He is the founder and current leader of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA). He served 13 years as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Economy, Chief Negotiator for the EU and Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey from 2002 to 2015. He was a member of the parliament as well. He first served as the Minister of State in charge of economic affairs in the 58th cabinet from the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He retained this position throughout the 58th and 59th Governments of the Republic of Turkey. On 29 August 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. Ali Babacan had the duty of steering a harsh economic reform program, which was backed by multibillion-dollar IMF loans; under his leadership, the Turkish economy achieved a remarkable recovery after two severe crises. He mostly stayed away from the Turkish political arena and focused on economic reforms, acting more like a technocrat. In 2019, Babacan left the AKP, citing "deep differences" over the party's direction as a reason and founded the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) in 2020. Babacan, who also speaks English, is married and has three children. Early life and career Education Ali Babacan graduated from TED Ankara College ranking first among the class of 1985. He attended the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara and in 1989 was awarded a BSc in Industrial Engineering with the highest marks (4.00 point out of 4.00). Babacan went to the U.S. on a Fulbright Scholarship to do postgraduate studies and in 1992 received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, with majors in marketing, organizational behavior and international business. Career in finance Babacan worked then for two years as an associate at QRM, Inc. 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. Political life Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Economy (2002–2015) He entered politics in 2001