Mahmut Özdemir | |
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| Member of theBundestag | |
| Assumed office 2013 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1987-06-23)23 June 1987 (age 37) Duisburg, Germany |
| Citizenship | German |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) |
| Alma mater | University of Düsseldorf |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Jurist |
Mahmut Özdemir (born 23 June 1987 inDuisburg, Germany) is a German politician for theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has been a member of theBundestag since 2013, representing theDuisburg II district.
In addition to his parliamentary work, Özdemir has been serving asParliamentary State Secretary in theFederal Ministry of the Interior and Community in thecoalition government ofChancellorOlaf Scholz since 2021.[1]
Özdemir was born on 23 June 1987, inDuisburg's Homberg district, Germany, toTurkish parents Zeki and Aynur, who emigrated fromTurkey as "guest workers".[2] After finishing high school withAbitur, he studiedlaw at theUniversity of Düsseldorf, graduating in 2011.[3][4] He was then employed at thedistrict court in Düsseldorf as a jurist trainee. He spent his whole life in his hometown even during his university years.[5][6]
Özdemir joined the SPD in 2001 at the age of fourteen, and was active in theYoung Socialists in the SPD (Jusos) organization. Özdemir climbed up to the top position in the regional organization of the party in Homberg.[7] In the regional elections of 2009, he became a member of the city council in his hometown Duisburg.[3][4][5][6]
With the declaration ofJohannes Pflug, a foreign policy expert of the SPD in the Bundestag, to resign from active politics and not to run again for the2013 federal election, the party nominated Özdemir as the direct candidate forDuisburg II.[7] He won a seat in the Bundestag as the youngest member of parliament.[3][4] In parliament, he served on the Committee on Internal Affairs (2013–2021) and its Sub-Committee on Municipal Affairs (2014–2017). In 2018, he joined the Sports Committee as well as a parliamentary inquiry on the2016 Berlin truck attack.
In addition to his committee assignments, Özdemir has served as deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with Arabic-Speaking States in the Middle East (since 2018), which is in charge of maintaining inter-parliamentary relations withBahrain,Iraq,Yemen,Jordan,Qatar,Kuwait,Lebanon,Oman,Saudi Arabia,Syria,United Arab Emirates and thePalestinian territories. From 2014 until 2017, he held the same position in the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the States ofCentral Asia (Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Uzbekistan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan). He is also a member of the German-Turkish Parliamentary Friendship Group and the German-Swiss Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Within his parliamentary group, Özdemir belongs to theSeeheim Circle. He has also been member of the working group on municipal policies since 2014.
In the negotiations to form a so-calledtraffic light coalition of the SPD, theGreen Party and theFree Democrats (FDP) following the2021 German elections, Özdemir was part of his party's delegation in the working group onhomeland security, civil rights and consumer protection, co-chaired byChristine Lambrecht,Konstantin von Notz andWolfgang Kubicki.[8]
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