Aydan Özoğuz (, born 31 May 1967) is a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD), who has been serving as a Vice-president of the German Bundestag since October 2021. She has been a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

since 2009 and served as deputy chairperson of the party from 2011 until 2017. She also served as Commissioner for Immigration, Refugees and Integration at the rank of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

in the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

government of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

from 2013 until 2018.

Early years

Özoğuz was born on 31 May 1967 in Finkenau,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

to Turkish parents, who came to Germany in 1958. She grew up in Hamburg-Lokstedt. Her parents later went into their own food business. Özoğuz acquired German citizenship in 1989. She has two brothers, Yavuz and Gürhan. She finished her high school education at Corvey-Gymnasium in 1986 with ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

''. Following her studies in English as a major and Spanish and Human Resources Management as a minor, she completed a master's degree at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

in 1994. During her university years, she was member of the Turkish Student Society in Hamburg, and served as its chairperson for two years.

Career

Since 1994, Özoğuz was research fellow in the

Körber Foundation The Körber Foundation (German: ''Körber-Stiftung'') is a nonprofit organization, established in 1959 by German businessman Kurt A. Körber. It provides a platform to discuss present political topics and develops operational projects on social an ...

as project manager of "Coordination of New Projects" with focus on German-Turkish projects. From 1996 on, Özoğuz conducted projects in the field of Youth and Science Exchange as well as academic conferences on issues of international relations. With her election into

, she was exempted from her post at the Körber Foundation. Between 2001 and 2008, Özoğuz was member of the

Hamburg Parliament The Hamburg Parliament (german: Hamburgische Bürgerschaft; literally “Hamburgish Citizenry”) is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parli ...

. She was appointed speaker of the parliamentary group of SPD for migration policies and member of the committees of interior affairs, petitions and family. In 2004, Özoğuz joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). She is the first ever Turkish descent woman in the SPD leadership as deputy chairperson.

Member of the Bundestag, 2009–present

Özoğuz first entered the Bundestag at the

2009 German federal election Federal elections took place on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the 17th Bundestag (parliament) of Germany. Preliminary results showed that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union ...

. She became a member of the Committee on Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. She served also in the Committee of Inquiry for internet and the digital society. On 2 March 2010, the SPD parliamentary group appointed her commissioner of the group for integration. Özoğuz was re-elected in the 2013 election, gaining the constituency of

Hamburg-Wandsbek Wandsbek () is an urban quarter in the Wandsbek borough of Hamburg, Germany, and the former city Wandsbek in the Duchy of Holstein. In 2020 the population was 36,671. History Wandsbek was once part of the county ''Stormarn''. Its villages were ...

. She is one of the eleven politicians of Turkish descent who won a seat in the Bundestag, including seven women. Since 2018, Özoğuz has been a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and on the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid. She also serves as deputy chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Ahead of the

2021 elections Many elections occurred in 2021. The National Democratic Institute maintains calendar of elections around the world * 2021 United Nations Security Council election * 2021 national electoral calendar * 2021 local electoral calendar Africa * 2021 ...

, Özoğuz was elected to lead the SPD campaign in Hamburg. In the negotiations to form a so-called

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition (german: Ampelkoalition) is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' tra ...

of the SPD, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

and the Free Democrats (FDP) following the elections, she was part of her party's delegation in the working group on migration and integration, co-chaired by

Boris Pistorius Boris Pistorius (; born 14 March 1960) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as the German Federal Minister of Defence since 19 January 2023 in the Scholz cabinet. He had previously been St ...

Luise Amtsberg Luise Amtsberg ( von Jackowski, born 17 October 1984) is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been a member of the German Bundestag since the federal election in 2013.

and

Joachim Stamp Joachim Stamp (born 21 June 1970) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia since the 2012 elections. He served as Deputy Minister President of ...

Federal Commissioner for Immigration, Refugees and Integration, 2013–2018

On 16 December 2013, Özoğuz was appointed Commissioner for Immigration, Refugees and Integration (german: Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Migration, Flüchtlinge und Integration) in the

third Merkel cabinet The Third Merkel cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Merkel III'') was the 23rd Government of the Federal Republic of Germany during the 18th legislative session of the Bundestag. Installed after the 2013 federal election, it left office on 14 March 20 ...

, succeeding

Maria Böhmer Maria Böhmer (born 23 April 1950) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Under the leadership of successive ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier (2013-2017) and Sigmar Gabriel (2017), she served as Minister of State in th ...

(CDU). She was the first ever woman with Turkish roots and Muslim member of the

German Federal Government The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...

as Minister of State. In April 2015, Özoğuz accompanied German

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician and civil rights activist who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in E ...

on a state visit to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. In September 2015, amid the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...

, she joined Vice Chancellor

Sigmar Gabriel Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

on a trip to the

Zaatari refugee camp The Zaatari refugee camp () is a refugee camp in Jordan, located east of Mafraq, which has gradually evolved into a permanent settlement;Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

to learn more about the plight of

Syrians Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

fleeing from Syrian civil war which erupted in 2011. Together with

Doris Ahnen Doris Maria Ahnen is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Minister for Finance in the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2014. Prior to that she served as the Minister for Education, Re ...

Niels Annen Niels Annen (born 6 April 1973) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in the coalition government of Ch ...

, Michael Groschek and

Manuela Schwesig Manuela Schwesig (' Frenzel, born 23 May 1974) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party serving as Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern since 4 July 2017. She is the first woman to serve as head of government of this state. P ...

, Özoğuz co-chaired the SPD's 2017 extraordinary convention in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

. In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under

following the 2017 federal elections, Özoğuz was part of the working group on migration policy, led by

Volker Bouffier Volker Bouffier (born 18 December 1951) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister President of the German state of Hessen from 31 August 2010 to 31 May 2022. From 1 November 2014 until 31 October 2015 ...

, Joachim Herrmann and

Ralf Stegner Ralf Stegner (born 2 October 1959) is a political scientist and a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag for the constituency of Pinneberg since the 2021 elections. Stegn ...

Political positions

Domestic policy

In May 2017, Özoğuz wrote a guest commentary in the newspaper ''

Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, s ...

'' in which she stated that a specific

German culture The culture of Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. Historically, Germany has been called ''Das Land der Dichter und Denker'' (the country of poets and thinkers). German cultu ...

"aside from the language is simply not identifiable", as "already historically, rather regional cultures, immigration and diversity have shaped our history". She added that "

Globalisation Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

and pluralisation of lifeworlds leads to a further diversification of

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

Human rights

In August 2012, Özoğuz was one of 124 members of the Bundestag to sign a letter that was sent to the Russian ambassador to Germany,

Vladimir Grinin Vladimir Mikhailovich Grinin (russian: Владимир Михайлович Гринин; born 15 November 1947) is a Russian former diplomat who served as the Russian ambassadors to Austria, Finland, Poland, and Germany. Biography Vladimir ...

, expressing concern over the trial against the three members of

Pussy Riot Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist protest and performance art group based in Moscow that became popular for its provocative punk rock music which later turned into a more accessible style. Founded in August 2011, it has had a membership of appr ...

. "Being held in detention for months and the threat of lengthy punishment are draconian and disproportionate," the lawmakers said in the letter. "In a secular and pluralist state, peaceful artistic acts – even if they can be seen as provocative – must not lead to the accusation of serious criminal acts that lead to lengthy prison terms."

Other activities

* Islamkolleg Deutschland (IKD), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2021) * Aktion Deutschland Hilft (Germany's Relief Coalition), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2019) * Avicenna-Studienwerk, Member of the Board of Trustees * Berghof Foundation, Member of the Advisory Council * ''Charta der Vielfalt'', Ex-officio Member of the Board *

Friedrich Ebert Foundation The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as the ...

(FES), Member of the Board of Trustees * ''Forum gegen Rassismus'', Ex-officio Member of the Board * German Association for Public and Private Welfare, Ex-officio Member of the Central Committee * German Foundation of School Sports, Ex-officio Member of the Board of Trustees *

German Historical Museum The German Historical Museum (german: Deutsches Historisches Museum), known by the acronym DHM, is a museum in Berlin, Germany devoted to German history. It describes itself as a place of "enlightenment and understanding of the shared history ...

, Deputy Member of the Board of the Trustees (since 2010) * Foundation for History of Federal Republic of Germany, Deputy Member of the Board of the Trustees (german: Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland). * German Committee of

Youth For Understanding Youth For Understanding (YFU) is an international educational exchange organization. A network of over 50 independent national organizations worldwide, YFU representatives work together to advance learning across cultures. Each year, YFU exchang ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * German-Palestinian Society, Member of the advisory board (since 2018) * Hamburg Foundation for Migrants, Member of the Advisory Board * Muslim Academy in Germany(german: Muslimische Akademie in Deutschland), Member of the Board of Trustees * Stiftung Lesen, Member of the Board of Trustees * Urban Future Forum, Member of the Board of Trustees * ''Bündnis für Demokratie und Toleranz'', Ex-officio Member of the advisory board (2013–2018)Advisory Board
''Bündnis für Demokratie und Toleranz''. * Civis Media Prize, Ex-officio Member of the Board of Trustees (2013–2018) * German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR), Ex-officio Member of the Board of Trustees (2013–2018) * ''Deutschlandstiftung Integration'', Ex-officio Member of the Board (2013–2018) *

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...

, Member of the Broadcasting Board (2009–2013) * ''Islamisches Wissenschafts- und Bildungsinstitut'', Member of the Board of Trustees (2004–2009) * ''BürgerStiftung Hamburg'', Member of the Board of Trustees (2006–2009)

Personal life

Özoğuz is married to Michael Neumann, Senator of Interior Affairs from SPD in the state government of Hamburg, and has a daughter, Hanna. Her brothers Yavuz Özoğuz and Gürhan Özoğuz, both staunch and avowed admirers of the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and Hizballah, run the Islamist internet site ''Muslim-Markt''. Aydan Özoğuz distanced herself from her brothers on their radical Islamist viewpoints in a newspaper interview in October 2011. Her twin cousins Hakan Özoğuz and

Gökhan Özoğuz Gökhan Özoğuz (born 11 October 1976) is the lead vocalist and guitarist of the Turkish ska-punk band Athena. He is the twin brother of fellow band member Hakan Özoğuz, and a founder member of the band. He performs a broad field of music fr ...

are part of the

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...

band

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

from

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozoguz, Aydan 1967 births Living people Women members of State Parliaments in Germany Members of the Bundestag for Hamburg German Shia Muslims Members of the Hamburg Parliament German politicians of Turkish descent Naturalized citizens of Germany 21st-century German women politicians University of Hamburg alumni Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany