Prior to his political career in Turkey, Kahveci had led a successful career as an electrical engineer and academic in the United States, having done his studies in Purdue University and having risen to become a professor at the University of Missouri.
In the early 1980s Kahveci was "chef de cabinet" (chief of staff) to Prime Minister Turgut Özal, becoming, in the words of The Independent, "the main link between Ozal and the outside world, including local politicians and civil servants, the military, as well as Western journalists and foreign investors.
As minister and previously advisor to Özal, Kahveci played a catalytic role in many of the key steps taken by ANAP in the eighties, including shaping Turkey's first privatisations.
[1] He also followed up allegations of corruption, arranging for a minister who had accepted a pay-off for contracting a shipment of oil to be taped during the conversation on the transaction, and bringing the recording to Özal.
[2] Both in office and during the short subsequent period he spent as a member of the opposition after the 1991 elections, he was widely recognized as a maverick deputy, who spoke his mind irrespective of the party line.