Ismail Ertug (; born 5 December 1975) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from

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 ...

from 2009 to 2023. He is a member 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 ...

of Germany, part of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

Early life and career

Of ethnic

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

origin, Ertug was born in

Amberg Amberg () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate about halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. History The town was first mentioned in 1034 with the name Ammenberg. It became an important trading c ...

, in 1975, three years after his parents immigrated from

Seferihisar Seferihisar is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 375 km2, and its population is 60,914 (2024). Seferihisar district area borders on other İzmir districts of Urla to the west and Menderes to the east, and t ...

(in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey) to Germany. After finishing his apprenticeship as industrial management assistant, he worked as a customer consultant for enterprises at the German general health insurance (AOK) where he studied business management. Following his studies, he worked as coordinator and social insurance expert in the marketing department of the AOK Bavaria.

Political career

Career in local politics

Since 1999, Ertug has been a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He was a member of the Amberg City Council from 2004 to 2009 and again since 2014. Furthermore, Ertug is an assessor of the board of the Bavarian SPD, under the leadership of chairwoman

Natascha Kohnen Natascha Kohnen (born 27 October 1967) is a German politician of the SPD who has been a member of the Landtag of Bavaria since 2009. From 2017 until 2021, she served as chairwoman of the SPD Bavaria. Political career Kohnen has been a member of ...

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–present

In the

2009 European elections 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

, Ertug was first elected as a

(MEP) for the German Social Democrats. He was re-elected in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. Ertug represents the Bavarian regions of

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (; , , ) is an administrative district in the east of Bavaria, Germany. It consists of seven districts and 226 municipalities, including three cities. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and nume ...

and

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. It consists of nine districts and 258 municipalities (including three cities). Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two ...

. In the European Parliament, Ertug is a member of the Committee for Transport and Tourism (TRAN) and since 2014, he is coordinator of the Group of Socialists and Democrats in the TRAN committee. In this capacity, he has served as the Parliament's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

Trans-European Transport Networks The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is a planned network of roads, railways, airports and water infrastructure in the European Union. The TEN-T network is part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks (TENs), including a telecommun ...

(TENT-N) and the 2019 Mobility Package. From January 2016 until 2017, he was a full member of the Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS) that submitted/presented their conclusions in March 2017. Ertug is further a substitute member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). Additionally, he is a member of the delegations to the EU-Kazakhstan, EU-Kyrgyzstan, EU-Tajikistan and EU-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees; of the delegation for relations with Turkmenistan and Mongolia (DCAS); and of the European Parliament Intergroup on Sports. He is also a substitute member of the Delegation for the relations between the EU and the nations of Southeast Asia together with the association of Southeast Asian states as well as of the Delegation to the

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union (the Members of the European Parliament) and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states ("ACP ...

. In addition to his legislative work in the committees and the work in the delegations, Ertug co-chairs the EP Turkey Forum, a cross-party group of more than 70 MEPs. Their aim is to closely monitor the EU-Turkey accession negotiations as well as promote the Turkish-European relations through informatory events and cultural exchange. He is also part of the European Parliament Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development.

Other activities

* European Logistics Platform, Member of the Advisory Board * German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member *

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

, Member * German Worker's Welfare Association (AWO), Member * Mobifair, Member * Rail Forum Europe, Member Ertug also supports “Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V.” and the German coalition for action against racism, “Bunt statt braun”. Furthermore, he is a mentor of the program “school without racism” for the Franz-Xaver-von-Schönwerth middle school Amberg.

Controversy

In a letter to

President of the European Parliament The president of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. They also represent the Parliament within the European Union (EU) and internationally. The president's signature is required for Euro ...

David Sassoli David Maria Sassoli (; 30 May 1956 – 11 January 2022) was an Italian politician and journalist who served as the president of the European Parliament from 3 July 2019 until his death on 11 January 2022. Sassoli was first elected as a member of ...

in late 2019, Ertug and

Karima Delli Karima Delli (born 4 March 1979 in Roubaix, Nord) is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament elected in the 2009 European election, 2014 European elections and in the 2019 European elections for the Île-de-France constitu ...

asked the Parliament to sanction Angel Dzhambazki on the grounds he made xenophobic remarks about them and thereby breached the legislature's code of conduct.Hanne Cokelaere (December 17, 2019)
MEP accused of racism in row over truckers’ rights
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...

''.

References

External links

Website of Ismail Ertug

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ertug, Ismail Living people 1975 births German politicians of Turkish descent Social Democratic Party of Germany MEPs MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 People from Amberg Politicians from Bavaria