EXECUTOR OF TURKEY’S ECONOMIC REFORM PROGRAM NAMED NEW FOREIGN MINISTER
Suzan Fraser

AP Worldstream
Published: Aug 29, 2007

Turkey’s new foreign minister has helped lift the Turkish economy
from recession and is a strong advocate of European Union membership.

Ali Babacan, 40 _ one of the youngest ministers in the Cabinet _
succeeds Abdullah Gul, a devout Muslim who was chosen and immediately
sworn in as president Tuesday. Gul, who vowed to uphold secularism
despite skepticism from his critics, approved a Cabinet list submitted
Wednesday by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The deeply pious Babacan was the minister in charge of the economy
and, as Turkey’s chief negotiator for EU membership, worked closely
with Gul in the government’s campaign to join the 27-member group.

The minister has a difficult task ahead.

Separatist Kurdish rebels have stepped up strikes against Turkey from
hideouts in northern Iraq, and the military chief has spoken in favor
of a cross-border incursion to stamp them out.

Erdogan appears reluctant to order an invasion. But the government
has said Turkey would take any necessary steps if the United States
fails to live up to a pledge to help fight the rebels.

Turkey is also concerned by a possible referendum on incorporating
the oil-rich city of Kirkuk into the autonomous Kurdish region in
northern Iraq.

Turkey opposes the referendum, fearing it could boost Kurdish
separatists in Turkey.

Relations with the United States, a NATO ally, face a serious test
with opposition Democrats proposing a congressional resolution that
would recognize World War I-era killings of Armenians by Turks as
genocide. Turkey vigorously denies the allegation.

Turkey’s EU membership talks came to a virtual standstill late last
year when European leaders decided to partially suspend negotiations
to protest Ankara’s refusal to open its ports to trade with EU
member Cyprus.

Turkey does not recognize the government of Cyprus, which has led to
a standoff between Brussels and Ankara over the membership bid.

Babacan, who earned a business degree at Northwestern University in
the United States, also acted as steward of economic reforms that
were backed by the International Monetary Fund. The reforms helped
Turkey emerge from an economic crisis and attain an average annual
growth of 7 percent.

As the youngest minister in the outgoing Cabinet, he was affectionately
called "Bebe-can" or "Baby-can" by other ministers, according to
reports.

Babacan was born to a conservative family in Ankara in 1967. His
family ran a small business, where Babacan began working at an early
age. He finished high school and university at the top of his class
before studying in the United States.

Babacan, a founding member of Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted Justice and
Development Party, is married and has two children.