Mehmet Şimşek (born 1 January 1967) is a Turkish
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
and
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
, who has been serving as the
Minister of Treasury and Finance since 4 June 2023. He was the
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
The deputy prime minister of Turkey was official deputy of the prime minister of Turkey. Conventionally all of the junior partners in a coalition got one deputy, and they were ranked according to the size of their respective parties.
See also ...
from 24 November 2015 until the office's abolition on 9 July 2018. He previously served as the minister of finance from 2009 to 2015, in the cabinets of Prime Ministers of
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...
and
Ahmet Davutoğlu
Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice ...
. As a member of the
Justice and Development Party, he was elected as a
Member of Parliament for
Gaziantep
Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...
in the
2007 general election and for
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
in the
2011 general election.
In Prime Minister Erdoğan's
second cabinet (2007-2011), Şimşek became a
minister of state
Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
responsible for the
economy
An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
upon his election as an MP. In 2009, he became the minister of finance. He retained his position in Erdoğan's
third cabinet and the
first cabinet of
Ahmet Davutoğlu
Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice ...
, who took over as prime minister in 2014.
As finance minister, Şimşek formulated fiscal policy which helped Turkey recover strongly from the
2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
. He also undertook far reaching reforms founding the Tax Audit Board, simplifying tax regulations, enhancing taxpayers’ rights, and reducing the
shadow economy.
Early life education
Şimşek was born to a
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish language
** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)
**Central Kurdish (Sorani)
**Southern Kurdish
** Laki Kurdish
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern ...
family in 1967, in the village of
Arıca in the
Gercüş District of
Batman Province
Batman Province (, ; ) is a province in Turkey. It was created in May 1990 with the Law No. 3647 taking some parts from the eastern Province of Siirt and some from the southern Province of Mardin. Its area is 4,477 km2, and its population i ...
in Turkey. He was the youngest of eight siblings, and his mother died when he was four years of age.
He attended school in three locations, Batman,
Beşiri
Beşiri (, ) is a town and seat of the Beşiri District in the Batman Province of Turkey.[İlçe ...]
and Gercüş.
Following his graduation from high school, he opened a shop for a short while but then began to study economy at the
Gazi University
Gazi University () is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Ankara, Turkey.
It was founded in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk originally as the Gazi Education Institute (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Gazi Eğitim Ens ...
in Ankara, later switching to politics.
Şimşek earned his
B.Sc. in Economics from
Ankara University
Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...
in 1988. After working as a research assistant in the chair of international economics and economic development, he was awarded a state scholarship to the
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...
in the United Kingdom, where he earned his
M.Phil. in Finance and Investments in 1993.
Şimşek previously worked as the chief economist and strategist for the emerging
Europe, the Middle East and Africa
Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commonly known by its acronym EMEA among the North American business spheres, is a geographical region used by institutions, governments and global spheres of marketing, media and business when referring to t ...
region at
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...
in London for 7 years. At this time he had a number of contacts with the Turkish authorities and the
Central Bank
A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
and had worked with the AKP government on economic policy. He also served as a senior economist and bank analyst for Deutsche-Bender Securities from 1998 to 2000. Şimşek spent about a year in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
where he worked for
UBS Securities in 1997. Prior to that, he was a senior economist at the
U.S. Embassy in Ankara for almost four years.
Political career

Elected as an AKP Member of Parliament for
Gaziantep
Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...
in the
2007 general election, Şimşek began his ministerial career as a
Minister of State
Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
and was promoted to the post of Finance Minister in 2009.
He was nominated as one of the 500 most powerful people on the planet by Foreign Policy in 2013 and also awarded the title of "Finance Minister of the Year for Emerging Europe 2013" by Emerging Markets magazine.
2014 economic slowdown
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
experienced a reduction in economic growth in 2014, blamed by the government mainly on the problems in the
Eurozone
The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...
, with much of it allegedly due to political uncertainty in the country. By March 2015, the
Turkish lira
The lira (; Currency sign, sign: Turkish lira sign, ₺; ISO 4217, ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey. It is also legal tender in the ''de facto'' state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One lira i ...
began losing heavy value towards the
US dollar
The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
, trading at ₺2.68 to US$1. The sudden decline caused the
Central Bank of Turkey to make a written intervention, with the opposition criticising President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for intervening in economic affairs despite his neutral and ceremonial role. The economy was seen as so fragile due to the political uncertainty that a single speech by Erdoğan caused the lira to rapidly lose its value against the dollar soon after. Investors were also concerned about the future of Deputy Prime Minister
Ali Babacan, who holds responsibility for the Economy.
Despite the economic slowdown, Şimşek claimed that there would be a high chance that the lira would regain its value and that
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...
would fall at a fast rate in 2016. With key Islamists in government, such as
Numan Kurtulmuş
Numan Kurtulmuş (born 15 September 1959) is a Turkish politician and academic who is currently the speaker of the Grand National Assembly.
He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the 62nd, 63rd, 64th and 65th AKP governments between ...
, openly critical about the independence of the Central Bank, Şimşek claimed that the uncertainty caused by the potential of politicising the Central Bank meant that Turkey was unlikely to return to strong economic growth in the near future.
Şimşek has since defended his record as finance minister, stating that his government was being unfairly targeted despite managing to keep its budget commitments under heavy economic pressures.
Poverty reduction
In May 2015, Şimşek said that his government had reduced poverty, as well as including a statistic that showed that the percentage of the population living below $1 a day fell from 0.2% to 0% between 2002 and 2013. The tweet generated huge controversy.
June 2015 general election
In the run-up to the June 2015 general election, Şimşek stated that
populism
Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...
by opposition parties would be the most significant threat to Turkey's economy, stating that the
Republican People's Party
The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
's policy of increasing the minimum wage to ₺1,500 would be devastating to workers, alleging that the extra cost of hiring workers would lead to unemployment. Commenting on other policies in the Republican People's Party (CHP) manifesto, Şimşek claimed that if the party could name a source for all their spending plans, he would vote for them. The CHP subsequently gave the numerous
government corruption scandals, the lavish spending on a new
Presidential Palace
A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...
and government waste as their funding.
In the run up to the election, Şimşek ordered the release of ₺1.325 billion of allowances to farmers and manufacturers.
After the 2018 election, Şimşek was replaced by Erdogan with Erdogan's son in law
Berat Albayrak
Berat Albayrak ( born 21 February 1978) is a Turkish businessman and politician. He served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources from 2015 to 2018 and as the minister of treasury and finance from 2018 to 2020. In the general elections ...
in July 2018.
Hacking
In 2019, it was revealed that Şimşek had been targeted by
Project Raven
DarkMatter Group is a computer security company founded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2014 or 2015. The company has described itself as a purely defensive company; however, in 2016, it became a contractor for Project Raven, helping the ...
; a
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...
clandestine surveillance and hacking operation, targeting other governments, militants and human rights activists critical of the UAE monarchy. Using a "sophisticated spying tool called Karma" they managed to hack an
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
belonging to Şimşek.
Return as finance minister
On 3 June 2023, after the
re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as president, Şimşek was reappointed as the Minister of Treasury and Finance.
During the his duty Annual inflation in Turkey surged to 69.8% last month( April 2024), up from 43.68% in April last year, according to data published by the Turkish statistical institute.
As April 21, 2025, Turkish annual consumer price inflation slowed to 38.1% in March, extending its fall from a peak of around 75% last May.
Personal life
Şimşek married twice. His first wife was an American woman, Annalise Granwald, with whom he married in Turkey on 20 January 1999.
[ They divorced on 23 July 2009.][ He married Esra Kara on 9 January 2010.][ He has twin daughters and a son from his second marriage.] In addition to Turkish, he speaks Kurdish and English fluently and has both British and Turkish citizenships.
See also
* Ali Babacan
* Nihat Zeybekci
References
External links
Official website
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simsek, Mehmet
1967 births
Ankara University alumni
Deputy prime ministers of Turkey
Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians
Living people
Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 63rd government of Turkey
Members of the 64th government of Turkey
Members of the 65th government of Turkey
Members of the 67th government of Turkey
Merrill (company) people
Ministers of finance of Turkey
People from Batman, Turkey
Turkish Kurdish politicians
Members of the 60th government of Turkey
British people of Turkish descent