ISTANBUL (AP) – Turkish economist, politician and former head of the United Nations Development Program Kemal Dervis died Monday at the age of 74, Turkish news outlets reported. He was being treated for an unspecified illness in Washington D.C., state-run Anadolu Agency reported, as did BBC Turkish and t24, which first reported the news. Following more than two decades at the World Bank, Dervis became a household name in Turkey in 2001 when he was invited by then-Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to serve as minister of economic affairs amid the country’s worst economic crisis in modern history.

Dervis was largely responsible for the successful three-year economic recovery plan launched that year, which included major structural changes and bank reforms.