Mehmet Simsek was elected to Parliament in the general election on July 22, 2007 and appointed as the state minister in charge of the economy on August 29. Prior to joining politics, Mr Simsek was the chief economist and strategist for emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa region at Merrill Lynch in London for 7 years. He also served as senior economist and bank analyst for Deutsche-Bender Securities from 1998 to 2000. Mr Simsek spent about a year in New York where he worked for UBS Securities in 1997. Prior to that, he was a senior economist at the US Embassy in Ankara for almost four years.    
 
A native of Batman, Mr Simsek earned his B.Sc. in economics from Ankara University in 1988. After working as research assistant in the chair of international economics and economic development, he was awarded a state scholorship to the University of Exeter (UK), where he earned his M Phil in Finance and Investments in 1993.
 
Mr Simsek is married to Annalise and is fluent in English