She was born in Gaziantep in 1966. She completed her primary, secondary, and high school education in Gaziantep, and her higher education at Istanbul Technical University, Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering.
In the early years of her professional career, she worked as an Operations Engineer and Operations Manager at a private company.
In 2001, she became a Founding Member of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Gaziantep Provincial Organization.
In the 2002 general parliamentary elections, she was elected as the first female Member of Parliament from Gaziantep.
She served as a Member of Parliament for Gaziantep during the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th legislative terms of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).
Throughout her tenure in the TBMM, she served as a member of the Industry, Trade and Energy Commission, the Turkey–EU Joint Parliamentary Commission, and as Chair of the Commission for Research on Violence Against Women and Children.
Following the 2011 general parliamentary elections, she was appointed as the Founding Minister of Family and Social Policies in the 61st Government. With this appointment, she became the first female minister from the Southeastern Anatolia Region.
The Turkish Foundation for the Disabled selected Minister Fatma Şahin as “Woman of the Year” due to her work related to people with disabilities.
In the local elections held on March 30, 2014, she was elected as one of Turkey’s first female metropolitan mayors, becoming the Mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality.
In 2014, she became Vice President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR).
She served as:
President of the Asian Mayors Forum (2016–2019),
Vice President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) (2016–2019),
President of UCLG Middle East and West Asia (UCLG-MEWA) (2016–2019).
Between 2018 and 2023, she served as President of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey.
In 2021, she became the first mayor from Turkey to be selected for the OECD Champion Mayors Initiative.
In November of the same year, she received an award from the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Through the initiatives of Gaziantep Metropolitan Mayor Fatma Şahin, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) declared Gaziantep a “Green City” on November 2, 2021.
In 2023, she was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres as a member of the UN Advisory Group of Local and Regional Governments.
In 2024, she was selected as the “Fair Play Mother of the Year” by the Turkish National Olympic Committee.
In the 2024 local elections, Şahin ran again as a candidate and was elected Mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality for the third time.
Married and a mother of two children, Şahin continues to serve as the Mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality.
