Merve Safa Kavakçı (born 30 October 1968, Ankara) was a Turkish politician, who was elected as a Virtue Party deputy for Istanbul on April 18, 1999. On May 2, she was prevented from making her parliamentary oath because of her hijab, which is banned for civil servants in secular Turkey. She was eventually stripped of her Turkish citizenship, on the grounds that she had not disclosed her United States citizenship (which she obtained on March 5, 1999).[1]

Since then, Kavakçı has been an outspoken critic of Turkey's secularization policy, traveling the globe in support of Muslim women's rights, especially to the hijab. Kavakçı promotes the hijab as a symbol of female empowerment, and she is quick to remind critics that tradition of the hijab is both religious and cultural. In addition to lecturing at universities throughout Europe and the United States, Kavakçı addressed the 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions in Barcelona. From 2004-2005, she was a visiting professor and scholar at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Most recently, in 2007 the European Court of Human Rights found that Kavakçı's expulsion from parliament was a violation of human rights.

Kavakçı is a Hafiz-al Qur'an. She received her master's degree from Harvard University and her PhD from Howard University. Kavakçı is currently a professor at George Washington University. She has two daughters, Fatima and Mariam Abushanab.

She is a consultant for US Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a columnist for Turkish daily Vakit newspaper. Prior to her academic career she served as the head of foreign affairs of Welfare-Virtue Party's Women's Commission. Kavakci was elected to the Turkish Parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in 1999. However she was prevented from serving her term due to her headscarf. Kavakci's political party was closed down, her Turkish citizenship was revoked, banning her from politics for a period of five years. She took her case to European Court of Human Rights and won in 2007.

Kavakci addressed the British Parliament House of Lords, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, US Congress Helsinki Commission and Interparliamentary Union. She has lectured at myriad of American, European and Canadian Universities including Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Cambridge, Berlin, Insburg and Ottowa universities.

Kavakci was recognized among "Women of Excellence" by NAACP in March 2004. She was awarded the Public Service Award in Tribute and in Recognition of efforts for the advancement of human rights and Muslim Women's empowerment by International Association for Women and Children in 2000. She was awarded Service to Humanity Award by Haus Der Kulturellen Aktivitat und Toleranz in Vienna, Austria in 1999. She was granted Mother of the Year Award by Capital Platform of Ankara and National Youth Organization in 1999.

Kavakci holds a Ph. D in political science from Howard University, an MPA from Harvard University where she was recognized as Edward Mason Fellow and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from University of Texas at Dallas. Prior to that Kavakci attended the Medical School of Ankara University for two years. However she was not permitted to continue due to the headscarf ban.

Kavakci is the author of Basortusuz Demokrasi (Turkish) which has been translated to Arabic and Persian and also forthcoming in English and French. She is mother of two, Fatima and Mariam.

Membership:

2008-Present: Editorial Advisory Board, Mediterranean Quarterly

2009: Member, Islamic Resource Bank