She received her graduate degree from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government where she was recognized as Mason Fellow. In Turkey, she worked as the Head of Foreign Affairs at Welfare Party and later at Virtue Party. In 1999, she ran for the Parliament, Grand National Assembly of Turkey from Istanbul. She became the first conservative woman elected to the Turkish Parliament. She was precluded from taking her oath in the swear-in ceremony by members of the Democratic Leftist Party due to her scarf. Her Turkish citizenship was revoked. She lost her seat in the parliament in March 2001. Virtue Party was closed down by the Constitutional Court in June 2001 banning five parliamentarians including Kavakci from politics for a period of five years. She currently has a case in European Court of Human Rights.
Kavakci addressed 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, Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Duisburg, Insburg and Cambridge 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 United Association for Studies and Research and 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 in1999.
Currently Kavakci is a Lecturer at George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs. She is a consultant for US Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and a columnist for Turkish Vakit newspaper. She is the author of Basortusuz Demokrasi-Scarfless Democracy which has been translated to Arabic and Persian.