IEA elects chief economist Birol as executive director: Turkish Foreign Ministry

ISTANBUL

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has elected Fatih Birol as its executive director, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Feb. 12.

Birol has served as chief economist at the IEA for the last nine years of his 20-year tenure at the Paris-based agency. He is responsible for the IEA’s World Energy Outlook, the Foreign Ministry said in an e-mailed statement.

The IEA was not immediately reachable to confirm the appointment.

Birol is also founder and chair of the IEA Energy Business Council, which provides a forum for cooperation between the energy industry and policymakers.

He was born in the capital Ankara in 1958 and graduated from the Istanbul Technical University, before taking his graduate degrees in the Vienna Technical University.

In 2011 Birol was named by Forbes magazine as one of the most influential people in the global energy scene.

Davutoğlu celebrated Birol’s appointment while on a tour of the construction site of Istanbul’s third airport on Feb. 12.