The first ever Turkish-origin minister to make it to the German federal Cabinet. Mavi Boncuk |
Deputy leader of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), Aydan Özoğuz[1], has been announced as the country’s new state minister for immigration, refugees and integration.
Aydan Özoğuz, who was trained as a linguist, is a second-generation Turk in Germany and the daughter of a merchant family that imported nuts from Turkey in the 1960s. She received 89 percent of the vote at a SPD congress on Dec. 5 and was chosen as one of five vice presidents of the party.
She also became the first Turk and the first foreigner to become a deputy leader of the SPD. Germany’s center-left SPD overwhelmingly approved the formation of a “grand coalition” government under Chancellor Angela Merkel on Dec. 14, removing the final obstacle to her third term.
Deputy leader of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), Aydan Özoğuz[1], has been announced as the country’s new state minister for immigration, refugees and integration.
Aydan Özoğuz, who was trained as a linguist, is a second-generation Turk in Germany and the daughter of a merchant family that imported nuts from Turkey in the 1960s. She received 89 percent of the vote at a SPD congress on Dec. 5 and was chosen as one of five vice presidents of the party.
She also became the first Turk and the first foreigner to become a deputy leader of the SPD. Germany’s center-left SPD overwhelmingly approved the formation of a “grand coalition” government under Chancellor Angela Merkel on Dec. 14, removing the final obstacle to her third term.
[1] Aydan Özoğuz (born May 31, 1967 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German politician of Turkish descent. She is a member of Bundestag from Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) since 2009, and was elected deputy chairperson of the party in 2011.
She was born on May 31, 1967 in Finkenau, Hamburg to Turkish parents, who came in 1958 to Germany as Gastarbeiter. She grew up in Hamburg-Lokstedt. Her parents went later into their own food business. Aydan Özoğuz acquired the German citizenship in 1989. She has two brothers, Yavuz and Gürhan.
She finished her high school education in 1986 with Abitur. Following her studies in English Major and Spanish and Human Resources Management in minor, she completed a master's degree in 1994. During her university years, she was member of the Turkish Student Society in Hamburg, and served as its chairperson for two years.