Selçuk Öztürk | |
|---|---|
 Selçuk Öztürk in 2011 | |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 8 November 2012 – 30 March 2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1972-04-08)8 April 1972 (age 53) Büyükkışla, Şereflikoçhisar, Turkey |
| Political party | DENK (2015–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Labour Party (1998–2014) Independent (2014–2015) |
Selçuk Öztürk (born 8 April 1972) is a Dutch politician ofTurkish descent who served as anMP from 8 November 2012 until 30 March 2021. He is a former member of theLabour Party (PvdA). On 13 November 2014, Öztürk andTunahan Kuzu left the Labor Party and have formed the Group Kuzu/Öztürk, later renamedDENK .[1]
Öztürk moved to the Netherlands from Turkey at the age of three with his father. He works as amanagement consultant. Öztürk was also a member of theprovincial parliament of the province ofLimburg between 11 March 2011 and 1 December 2012, and a member of themunicipal council ofRoermond from 1998 until 2013. During this time, he received media attention for getting into a series of disputes with thePVV on Limburg Council.[2]
Öztürk was first elected to parliament at the2012 Dutch general election for theLabour Party. As a Member of Parliament, Öztürk was, among other things, spokesperson for internal affairs, economic affairs and defence. His videos on social media of the voting behaviour of fellow members with a migrant background sometimes brought him into conflict with the Speaker of the House. In November 2014, he and his colleagueTunahan Kuzu left the Labour Party after they proved unwilling to express their confidence in their own faction's position in the integration debate and in MinisterLodewijk Asscher's proposed integration policy. Their departure caused public commotion after Öztürk shouted "May Allah punish you!" at fellow Labour MPAhmed Marcouch during a meeting. This was criticised by Labour MPDiederik Samsom who described the statement as threatening.[3] He and Kuzu continued in parliament as the Kuzu/Öztürk Group which later becameDenk with Kuzu serving as leader and Öztürk chairman.
In July 2016,NRC Handelsblad published an article accusing Öztürk of profiting from a dubious real estate deal and had concealed business interests from the House of Representatives ethics committee. According to Denk, this was part of a smear campaign against the party.[4] In 2020, NRC admitted to making mistakes in the article.[5]
In March 2020, Öztürk and Kuzu became embroiled in a power struggle within Denk which also involved Öztürk and new leaderFarid Azarkan being involved in public disputes. This eventually culminated in Öztürk resigning as party chairman.[6] He stood down from Parliament at the 2021 general election.[7]
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