Chief Negotiator for Turkish Accession to the European Union 24 May 2016. With formal accession talks between Turkey and the European Union beginning in the years 2004 and 2005, the role of Chief Negotiator was established to represent the Turkish delegation during the membership negotiations. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed Ali Babacan as the first Chief Negotiator on 17 January 2005, while the then-Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül became the president of the Turkish delegation. When the Ministry of European Union Affairs was established on 29 June 2011 before Erdoğan formed his third and final government, the Minister responsible for the new department began serving concurrently as the Chief
Recep Ankaralı Recep Ankaralı Recep Ankaralı (born April 10, 1968 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a retired professional basketball referee. He started his career in 1989 and retired after 2015- 2016 season. As the end of 2016 season, Ankaralı has officiated more than 1,000 in his career including, Turkish Basketball League, Euroleague, Eurocup, World Championship and Olympics. Recep Ankaralı is currently President of Turkish Basketball Federation Officiating Committee and also Director of Referees for Turkish Basketball Leagues. Ankaralı has been a part of the officiating crew for Euroleague's most important games,Euroleague Final Four games in 2006,2008, 2012 and Game 4 of Euroleague's first