He was elected into the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in the 2011 general election as an MP from Denizli Province. On 26 December 2013, Nihat Zeybekci assumed office as the Minister of Economic Affairs, succeeding Zafer Çağlayan during Prime Minister Erdoğan’s cabinet reshuffle with ten new names that was announced the day before, on 25 December, following the 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey.

Zeybekci entered politics at regional level. In the 2004 local elections, he was elected Mayor of Denizli from the Justice and Development Party. He was re-elected to the post in the 2009 local elections. In 2011, he resigned to run for a seat in the parliament. During this time, he represented his city and country in some organizations for regional administrations at national and international level.

Zeybekci served as executive for companies in Istanbul and Denizli. In 1994, he founded a textile company. He was elected into the Denizli Chamber of Industry and chaired two terms Denizli Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Association.

Nihat Zeybekci (born 1 January 1961) is a Turkish economist, politician, a member of parliament for Denizli Province of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the current Minister of the Economy.

Nihat Zeybekci was born to Şükrü and Fatma Zeybekci as the youngest of five children in the village of Pınarlar in Tavas district of Denizli Province on 1 January 1961. The family earned their living from tobacco farming, and Nihat helped his parents in his youth.