Gülistan Yüksel (born 27 March 1962) 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 Form ...

(SPD) who has been serving as a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

, the German parliament, from 2013 to 2025.

Early life and professional career

Yüksel was born in

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. At the age of eight years, she moved to

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and grew up in

Rheydt Rheydt () is a borough of the German city Mönchengladbach, located in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 1918 and then again from 1933 (due to a split from Mönchengladbach arranged by Joseph Goebbels, who was born there) through 1975 it ...

. After vocational training as a pharmacy assistant (), she worked in a pharmacy in Rheydt. Later, she became head of a taxi company.

Political career

Yüksel became an SPD member in 1997. She was deputy chair of her local party organisation from 2005 to 2014 and chair since 2014. After serving on the Mönchengladbach city foreigner's council in the mid-1990s, she was a member of the city council for most of the time between 2002 and 2013. Yüksel became a member of the

in the 2013 elections and was reelected in 2017 as one of 14 members of the Bundestag with Turkish roots. In addition to her committee assignments, she has been a member of the German delegation to the

Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly The Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly (, ''APFA''; , ''DFPV'') is a joint body of the German Bundestag and the French National Assembly formed to enable cooperation between both houses. Background The French and German parliaments had p ...

since 2019. Within her parliamentary group, Yüksel belongs to the Parliamentary Left, a left-wing movement. In February 2025, Yüksel lost her seat in Bundestag.

Recognition

Yüksel was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

in 2007 for her engagement for migrants.

Other activities

Federal Agency for Civic Education The Federal Agency for Civic Education (FACE, (''bpb'')) is a German federal government agency responsible for promoting civic education. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Thomas Krüger has served as president of t ...

(BPB), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2022)Board of Trustees

(BPB).

Personal life

Yüksel is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yüksel, Gulistan 1962 births People from Adana Politicians from Mönchengladbach Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Living people Turkish emigrants to West Germany German politicians of Turkish descent Naturalized citizens of Germany German Muslims Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany