Sibel Arslan (born 23 June 1980 in

Erzincan Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is ...

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 ...

)''Sibel Arslan kandidiert für vakanten Sitz im Basler Bürgerrat''
Website der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Basel-Stadt, 14. is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

lawyer and politician of the party ''BastA!'' (

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 ...

Early life and education

Sibel Arslan is of

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 ...

origin, and arrived in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1991 with her mother and two brothers. Her father had already arrived six years previously as a refugee. The family settled in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. In 2002, she graduated from the Gymnasium Bäumlihof in

. She studied law at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

and graduated in 2011. Along with her brother, Arslan managed the shisha bar 'Susam' in Barfüsserplatz from 2006 to 2007. Arslan has been working as a legal advisor to the Basel

Gewerkschaftsbund ''Zentralgewerkschaftskommission des Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes in der Tschechoslowakischen Republik'' ('Central Commission of German Trade Unions in the Czechoslovak Republic') was a German Social Democratic trade union centre in Czechoslovaki ...

since 2012. From 2013 to 2015 she was a career adviser at the Office for Counseling and Adult Protection of the

Canton of Basel-Stadt Basel-Stadt or Basel-City (german: Kanton ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Citad; french: Canton de Bâle-Ville; it, Canton Basilea Città) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as t ...

. Since March 2015 she has worked as a lawyer in the General Secretariat of the Security Directorate of the

Canton of Basel-Landschaft Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...

Political career

Arslan joined BastA! in 2004, a leftist ecological party in the canton of Basel-Stadt. BastA is a member of the Green Party of Switzerland. From 2005 to 2016 she sat in the

Grand Council of Basel-Stadt The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt (german: Grosser Rat) is the legislature of the canton of Basel-Stadt, in Switzerland. Basel-Stadt has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of th ...

. In 2007, she became a member of the Justice, Safety and Sports Commission and, from 2013, the Pardon Commission. At the end of 2014 the Cantonal Regierungsrat ( Executive Councilor) of Basel Landschaft, Security Director Isaac Reber revoked an agreed appointment of Arslan as head of the cantonal penal sanctions and measures committee, after the

Basler Zeitung ''Basler Zeitung'' (literally: "Basler Newspaper"), or ''BaZ'', is a Swiss German-language regional daily newspaper, published in Basel. History and profile ''Basler Zeitung'' was created in 1977 through the merger of the '' Basler Nachricht ...

had led a campaign against her. The newspaper had alleged lack of qualifications and debts of about 60,000 Swiss francs. These claims covered three agreements that Arslan had also mentioned in the application process. The fact that these claims were recorded in the debt collection register "was not clarified in all media reports". At the time of Arslan's application, only a residual debt of CHF 5,000 had to be paid. This happened within a short time. Arslan was elected to the National Council in the

2015 Swiss federal election Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 18 October 2015 for the National Council (Switzerland), National Council and the first round of elections to the Council of States (Switzerland), Council of States, with runoff elections to the Council ...

. On 30 November 2015 she took the oath of office. The ceremony was held in Bern. In Parliament she joined the fraction of the

Green Party of Switzerland The Green Party of Switzerland (german: GRÜNE Schweiz; french: Les VERT-E-S suisses; it, VERDI svizzeri; rm, VERDA svizra) is the fourth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland and the largest party that is not represented on th ...

and is a member of the Foreign Policy Commission and the Legal Commission. In October 2019 she was re-elected to the National Council.

Political positions

She is a defender of women rights and was shortly detained after she participated in the Swiss Women's Strike 2020 and supports the

same-sex marriages Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. Besides, she is a member of the Swiss Association of Foreign Policy.

Personal life

In 2004 she became a Swiss citizen and is a Turkish and Swiss dual citizen.

References

External links

*
Website Sibel Arslan
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arslan, Sibel 1980 births Green Party of Switzerland politicians Turkish emigrants to Switzerland Living people Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Kurdish lawyers Kurdish women lawyers People from Erzincan Women members of the National Council (Switzerland) Politicians from Basel-Stadt Swiss women lawyers 21st-century Swiss women politicians 21st-century Swiss politicians 21st-century Swiss lawyers Kurdish politicians 21st-century women lawyers 21st-century Kurdish women politicians