Fatma Şahin (born 20 June 1966) is a Turkish

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

and politician. On 6 July 2011 she was appointed as the Minister of Family and Social Policies in the third cabinet of Erdoğan.

Biography

She was born on 20 June 1966 in

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 ...

to Mustafa and Perihan Şahin. She was educated in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

at the

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

. Fatma Şahin worked as an engineer and manager in the textile industry. She entered politics together with her husband İzzet Şahin and co-founded the Justice and Development Party. Taking active part in the provincial organization, she was elected three times deputy from her hometown. She is the first female member of the

Turkish parliament The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

elected from Gaziantep and from the Southeastern Anatolia Region. Fatma Şahin served as the chairperson of women's branch of her party. Following the 2011 general elections, she became the only female minister in the third cabinet of Prime Minister

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 ...

. She was replaced by

Ayşenur İslam Ayşenur İslam (born Külahlıoğlu; born 16 January 1958) is a Turkish university lecturer and politician. On 25 December 2013, she was appointed as the Minister of Family and Social Policy in the third cabinet of Erdoğan and served until ...

on 25 December 2013 in a cabinet reshuffle. As a result of the 2014 local elections, Şahin was elected as the first female mayor of

. In 2019 local elections and 2024 local elections, she was elected again as the mayor. She has two children, a son and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahin, Fatma 1966 births 21st-century mayors of places in Turkey Politicians from Gaziantep Istanbul Technical University alumni Turkish chemical engineers Turkish women chemists Turkish chemists Living people Deputies of Gaziantep Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Women government ministers of Turkey Government ministers of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey 21st-century Turkish women politicians Ministers of family and social policy of Turkey Women mayors of places in Turkey