Advertisement

Turkey's Babacan wants private sector return after election - paper

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, who has steered economic policy for the last 12 years, aims to return to the private sector after parliamentary elections next summer, he said in an interview published on Thursday.

Babacan and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek are highly regarded by investors for guiding the economy through a period of unprecedented growth, and their political futures have been a concern for financial markets.

Their AK Party has a three-term limit on members running for parliament, which could exclude Babacan after the 2015 vote. He could still serve as a minister without being in parliament but he said this would be "very exceptional".

"If it is my free will, I would like to return to the private sector," he said in a interview with the Nikkei business daily in Japan.

"However, I have learned during 12 years in politics ... that it's ultimately circumstances which are directing outcomes. Hence, I do not want to speak in deterministic terms on what is going to happen next year after elections," he said.

Babacan has retained overall responsibility for the economy in a new cabinet under Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who took over as head of government at the end of August after his predecessor Tayyip Erdogan won a presidential election.

His reappointment eased concerns of a turf war in government, after some analysts feared he could be sidelined. Simsek also retained his post in the new government.

(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Hugh Lawson)