Egemen Bağış Appointed New EU Chief Negotiator

>The press centre of the Prime Ministerial Office has announced that AKP MP Egemen Bağiş (right in picture) is to take over as Chief EU Negotiator from Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Babacan (left in picture). He is to become the tenth State Minister in Cabinet. 

Who is Egemen Bağış?

He was born in Bingöl, Eastern Turkey, in 1970. After studying Business and Public Administration in the USA, he was twice the president of the Federation of Turkish American Associations. He then became deputy chairman of the AKP responsible for foreign affairs. In the previous legislative period he  was the Chairman of Turkey-USA Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Caucus. He was also the vice chair of the NATO-PA Turkish Group and the chairman of the Transatlantic Sub-Committee. He was awarded the Italian Cavaliere State Recognition in June 2006. He also served as the founding Chairman of the Advisory Board for the “Istanbul 2010” Project (European City of Culture). (TK/AG)