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And He Calls Himself a Politician! ATAA's visit to Bulgaria last June which my predecessor Dr. Orhan Kaymakcalan wisely planned was an eye opener in more then one ways. Not in the order of importance but as the curser of my brain clicks randomly, they were as follows: The Turkish population which comprises 8% of the population in Bulgaria, despite the oppression of the previous communist regime just until 12 years, had been able come a long way, and now had its own political party in the Bulgarian parliament, Rights and Freedom Party. . Not only that, this party with 21 elected representatives --of which two are women-- was a partner to the ruling coalition. Not to mention, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly was a Turk, Mr. Unal Lutfi. To make it brief, this visit to Bulgaria by a Turkish NGO from the United States, ATAA, made the day for Turkish-Bulgarians. They silently declared to the Bulgarian public and the government that Turks were a power to reckon with everywhere, even in the US. And there was a byproduct to this visit. Four months after we came back home, the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy called and informed me that a large Bulgarian government and business delegation was coming to the United States along with their deputy prime minister, Mr. Nikolai Vasillev (36), and that he asked me if ATAA would be kind enough to introduce their delegation to American business world, and business leaders in Washington, DC? And that, we did, and we did successfully. The only Turkish businessman participant of the delegation, Mr. Omer Omer said as he left the ATAA building with the group that night: " I am going back to Bulgaria among this group of forty people with broader shoulders! Turks in America are strong and well established". That comment was worth all the trouble in the world. We had made him prouder to be a Turk. ATAA ex-president Dr. Kaymakcalan deserves a big tip of the hat for all this. Besides some other things that totally impressed us about Bulgaria since the departure of communism in the last dozen years such as Bulgaria having brought its inflation from roughly 50% to .04% in a couple of years, was a fact which almost floored us. That was the fact that the current average age in the Bulgarian cabinet was the mere age of 42, and there were two ministers in the cabinet under the age of 35! Well, you know?, I am from Turkey.. It is June of 2002! I have never heard of a more a ridiculous thing! Young people! In the parliament? Not to even mention in the cabinet? Would that miracle ever happen in Turkey? Well, it did. Miracles I guess do happen, and there is a proof. He is the new State Minister of Turkey, Mr. Ali Babacan. He is 32. Mr. Babacan and I visited when he attended ATAA's 23rd Annual Convention in Washington, DC, on December 12, 2002. Before telling you about his accomplishments or even why he may have been chosen to this mammoth post of being responsible for the Turkish Economy , I would like to tell you something about Mr Babacan as a person, to me even more special beyond his age and wisdom, and that is my impression of a wholesome person I saw outside, and the decent person I sensed inside. He is the kind neighbor from next door. I thought he was surreal, so will you. And he calls himself a politician! The man smiled! This is a genuine smile , not your average politician's glued-on grin, a smile of warmth that radiates through his eyes. And he actually listens to people, every single one of them who wishes an audience. In Washington he listened until they all were finished. He did not try to rush out of the hall to his privacy. He is thoughtful, kind, gentle, articulate, and courteous. On the inside I saw a driven man with a mission. His post to improve the Turkish economy is not just a job, to him it is his destiny! And also I saw a man though whose sincere wound was being camouflaged by his dignity. Beacuse this man with an immaculate English I believe, truly and deeply believes, and constantly utters that his party, AKP is a party of unification, and that he finds certain labelings of his party as fruits of a misconceptions. And I believe his sincerity. Minister Ali Babacan was born in 1967 in Ankara. He received his BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Ankara's Middle East Technical University in 1989, and an MBA degree from Kelogg School of Management, Northeastern University in 1992. He was as associate in QRM, Inc. in Chicago between 1992 and1994, and he served as a chief advisor to mayor of Ankara in 1994, and was the chairman of a textile company between 1994-2002. And... I am also told that every school he has ever attended, he has either ranked first, or he graduated from it with a grade point average of 4.0. Mr. Ali Babacan, I wish that with your youth you will not remain an exception in Turkish politics, and our country will thrive with the likes of you. I wish you well. |