Mehmet ŞİMŞEK

Mehmet Şimşek serves as a Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs. He previously served as the Minister of Finance (2009-2015), and as the Minister of Economy (2007-2009).
Mr. Şimşek has formulated fiscal policy which has helped Turkey recover strongly from the global financial crisis. He has also undertaken far reaching reforms including simplification of tax regulations, enhancing taxpayers’ rights, and combatting shadow economy.
Before entering politics, he worked for Merrill Lynch in London for seven years as an economist and strategist, and later on as the head of Fixed Income Strategy and Macroeconomic Research for the emerging EMEA region.
Mr. Şimşek holds a B.S. in Economics from Ankara University, and an M.Phil degree in Finance and Investments from Exeter University, UK.
Mr. Şimşek, who was born in 1967 in a small village in Batman, is married, and has twin girls, and a boy. He is fluent in Turkish, English and Kurdish.
Deputy Prime Minister Şimşek was nominated as one of the 500 most powerful people on the planet by Foreign Policy in 2013, and awarded as the "Finance Minister of the Year for Emerging Europe 2013" by Emerging Markets magazine.