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
Turgut Atakol Turgut Atakol Turgut Atakol (1915 in Istanbul, Turkey – April 9, 1988 in Istanbul) was a Turkish basketball player, referee and sports official. He played for the Galatasaray team in Istanbul. Upon retiring, he became a referee, calling many international games, including the Hungary-Czechoslovakia final of the 1955 European Championship. He was the co-founder and president of the Turkish Basketball Federation (1958–1964), director of the organizing committee of the 1971 Mediterranean Games, secretary general of the Turkish Olympic Committee (1973–1982) and later its president (1982–1988), and member of the International Olympic Committee (1984–1988). Turgut Atakol also wrote a book ""Techniques