Zuhal Demir (born 2 March 1980 in

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

) is a Belgian lawyer and politician affiliated to the N-VA. Demir was elected as a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 2010. She is currently the Flemish minister for Justice and Enforcement, Environment, Energy and Tourism. Previously she served as Secretary of State for Poverty Reduction in the Belgian Government (2017-2018). She is the daughter of

Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

parents from

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

and lives in Antwerp. She studied law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 1998–2003, and went on in 2003–2004 with a Master in Social Law at the

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) () is a Dutch and English-speaking research university located in Brussels, Belgium.The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is one of the five universities officially recognised by the Flemish government. listof all ...

. Since 2004, she has worked as a lawyer for an international law firm. From January 2013 until the end of 2015, she was the mayor of the district of Antwerp. In early 2016, she moved to

. In February 2017, she succeeded Elke Sleurs as Secretary of State for Poverty Reduction, Equal Opportunities, People with Disabilities, Urban Policy and Scientific Policy. She has also chaired the Flemish government's integration strategy. Demir has been given the nickname 'Iron Lady', partly because demir is the Turkish word for iron, and partly due to her advocacy for limiting the duration of unemployment benefits to encourage people back to work. In 2017, she was accused by the Turkish press of supporting terrorism and of being a member of the banned

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

(PKK). Demir has received death threats as a result of her opposition to Turkey's treatment of its

population. In 2017 a man was sentenced to 6 months in prison for making threats against her. On 6 December 2018, the correctional court of Hasselt sentenced a man from Beringen with a fine of 400 Euros for threatening Zuhal Demir on Facebook. In May 2019, campaign posters for Demir in

Maasmechelen Maasmechelen (; li, Mechele) is a municipality located on the Meuse in the Belgian province of Limburg. It comprises the former municipalities of Mechelen-aan-de-Maas, Vucht, Leut, Meeswijk, Uikhoven, Eisden, Opgrimbie, Boorsem, and Kotem. ...

were daubed with graffiti of

swastikas The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

and the logo of the extreme-right Turkish nationalist

Grey Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

organization. Demir responded that she would not be "intimidated" by the stunt. In November 2020, Demir received death and rape threats via email after she wrote a Facebook post criticising ''Diyanet'' ( Directorate of Religious Affairs) funding and training of imams in mosques in Belgium. Demir described the Turkish ''Diyanet'' directorate as " Erdogan's long arm" and "the antennae of the Erdogan regime." Similar threats were also given to Flemish

Vlaams Belang , ideology = , predecessor = Vlaams Blok , position = , europarl = Identity and Democracy , european = Identity and Democracy Party , youth_wing = Vlaams Belang Jongeren , colours = ...

politician Chris Janssens. Demir was subsequently given police protection and surveillance at her home.

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* Living people 1980 births Members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) New Flemish Alliance politicians Belgian women lawyers Belgian people of Kurdish descent People from Genk Kurdish Alevis 21st-century Belgian lawyers Belgian Muslims 21st-century Belgian politicians 21st-century Belgian women politicians Belgian deputies of the 55th legislature {{Belgium-mayor-stub