Aygül Özkan (born 27 August 1971, in

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

) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as managing director of the German Property Federation (ZIA) since 2020. Özkan has been a member of the CDU since 2004. She served as Minister of Social Affairs, Women, Families, Health and Integration in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, in the

Second Cabinet Wulff The Cabinet Wulff II was the state government of the German state of Lower Saxony from 26 February 2008 until 1 July 2010. The Cabinet was headed by Minister President Christian Wulff and was formed by the Christian Democratic Union and the Fre ...

and the

Cabinet McAllister The Cabinet McAllister was the state government of the German state of Lower Saxony from 1 July 2010 to 19 February 2013. The Cabinet was headed by Minister President David McAllister. After the election of Christian Wulff as president of German ...

between 2010 and 2013. She was the first ever German politician of Turkish descent and a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

serving as minister.

Early life and eudcation

Özkan's father migrated from

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

(Turkey) to Hamburg (West Germany) in the 1960s, where he first worked for

Deutsche Bundespost The Deutsche Bundespost (German federal post office) was a German state-run postal service and telecommunications business founded in 1947. It was initially the second largest federal employer during its time. After staff reductions in the 198 ...

and subsequently set up an independent business as a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

in Hamburg. Özkan became a German citizen when she was 18 years old. She went on to study law 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 ...

and became an attorney-at-law in 1998.

Career

Özkan entered politics in the CDU in 2004, and was appointed State Minister of Social Affairs, Women, Family, Health, and Integration in the state of

, serving in the cabinets of successive Ministers-President

Christian Wulff Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff (; born 1959) is a retired German politician and lawyer who served as President of Germany from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he previously served as minister president of the ...

and

David McAllister David James McAllister (born 12 January 1971) is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party. He is the current Vice Pr ...

from 27 April 2010 to 19 February 2013. In the negotiations to form a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social Un ...

) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the 2013 national elections, she was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on integration and migration, led by

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 ...

and

Aydan Özoğuz Aydan Özoğuz (, born 31 May 1967) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who has been serving as a Vice-president of the German Bundestag since October 2021. She has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009 and served as ...

. She caused some controversies in the German political establishment as she advocated a strictly secular policy and opposed the christian cross as well as the muslim headscarf in the schools. In a press release, Özkan announced her retirement from politics from 22 July 2014. She took a post as general manager of the DB Credit Service GmbH in Berlin, a subsidiary of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

, on 1 August 2014. She worked for

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...

and the Dutch

TNT Express TNT Express was an international courier delivery services company with its headquarters in Hoofddorp, Netherlands. History The namesake Thomas Nationwide Transport grandfather company was originally started in 1946 with a single truck in Adel ...

before she entered politics. In 2018 she was announced as the CDU candidate for the mayorships elections in 2020. But she declined to run in the elections due to a serious illness.

Other activities

German Cancer Research Center The German Cancer Research Center (known as the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum or simply DKFZ in German) is a national cancer research center based in Heidelberg, Germany. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, ...

(DKFZ), Member of the Advisory Council * Haus Rissen, member of the board of trustees *

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...

(KAS), Member of the Board of Trustees

Personal life

Özkan is married to a gynaecologist.Markus Arndt (19 August 2018)
Große Sorge um Aygül Özkan: Krankheits-Drama um CDU-Kandidatin
''

Bild ''Bild'' (or ''Bild-Zeitung'', ; ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper ''Bild am Sonntag'' ("''Bild on Sunday''") is published instead, which ...

''. She has a son.

References

External links

Official website

Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Soziales, Frauen, Familie, Gesundheit und Integration / Biographie der Ministerin / Fotos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozkan, Aygul 1971 births Living people Politicians from Hamburg University of Hamburg alumni Ministers of the Lower Saxony State Government Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Jurists from Hamburg German politicians of Turkish descent 21st-century German businesswomen 21st-century German businesspeople Women ministers of State Governments in Germany 21st-century German women politicians