Selma A. Kavaf, Second Woman in Cabinet

Denzli MP for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Selma Aliye Kavaf, found out from the TV news that she has become a State Minister in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s new cabinet.

New minister responsible for women and family

Kavaf was first congratulated on her promotion by Nimet Çubukçu, her predecessor as State Minister responsible for Women and Family, and previously the only woman in cabinet. Çubukçu has now become Minister of Education.

Kavaf was born in Denizli in 1962. She studied Turkology at Ankara University.

In 2002, she became a parliamentary candidate for the AKP in Denizli, but was not elected, as she was sixth on the list.

Kavaf remained active as the president of the party’s women’s branch and was elected into parliament in the general elections of 2007. She is the first female MP of the city in the west of Turkey.

As for Denizli, Kavaf is the fifth of its MPs to have become a minister in cabinet.

Kavaf lives in Ankara with her mining engineer husband Alaaddin Kavaf and their son.

Against women's quotas

She supports the rise of women in politics from the grass roots level, but opposes a women’s quota as “a product of a male-dominated view.” (EZÖ/AG)