Sevim Dağdelen (born 4 September 1975) is a German politician and 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 ...

. She was elected for Left Party () and switched in October 2023 to Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht.

Early years

Born in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

to Kurdish Alevi immigrants of the

Alevi Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...

faith from Erzincan, Sevim Dağdelen finished high school in 1997. She studied law at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

and then at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, Australia for a year. She later attended the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

but did not complete her law studies. She dropped out to pursue her political career. She worked for the left-wing Turkish newspaper '' Evrensel'' and German publications ''Tatsachen'' and ''Junge Stimme'' and has continued membership in the worker unions.

Career

After joining the Left Party, Dağdelen became a member of the regional-level party council of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

and the federal student agency from 1996 to 1998. From 1993 to 2001, she was a member of the federal youth commission. From 2005 to 2025, she was a member of the German

. Dağdelen participated in the State dinner with

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

in June 2011. Dağdelen visited

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...

at the Embassy of Ecuador in the United Kingdom in September 2012, passing on to him "solidarity ... from the left in Germany and the online community in Germany". She was re-elected into the

for the fifth time following the 2021 German federal election. She is known to be a supporter of the Kurdish

People's Protection Units The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a libertarian socialist US-backed Kurds in Syria, Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG mostl ...

(YPG). She showed the flag of the YPG in the

which is forbidden in Germany. She also opposes the German foreign policy regarding Turkey that attacked the YPG in Afrin. Her appearance at a regional IG Metall congress in 2018 led to controversy. Turks started a social media campaign to end their membership in the workers union. Sahra Wagenknecht presented her new party, BSW, during a press conference on 23 October 2023. Dağdelen is one of the MPs who left The Left and joined Wagenknecht's party. It was announced the same day. Dağdelen published a new book, titled ''NATO: A Reckoning with the Atlantic Alliance,'' in July 2024, discussing it with Amy Goodman of

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

on 10 July. In the 2025 federal election, she will stand as a direct candidate in the

Berlin-Mitte Mitte (; German for "middle" or "center") is a central section () of Berlin, Germany, in the eponymous Boroughs of Berlin, borough () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Old ...

constituency.

Political positions

In February 2022, Dağdelen said Russia had no interest in an invasion of Ukraine and was concerned with its legitimate security interests. She also called for a neutral status for Ukraine. On 18 February 2022, she appeared at a demonstration in Berlin with the slogan "Security for Russia is security for our country". She accused the German media of spreading the "tall tales of the U.S. intelligence service". After the Russian invasion occurred, Dağdelen was among the co-signers of a statement attributing significant responsibility for the Russian invasion to the United States. In April 2022, she praised German protesters who opposed an increase in German military spending, and she described it as "madness" to deliver military weapons to Ukraine. Dağdelen criticized European Union commission president

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...

's speech in early 2023 that called for a new EU policy towards China, saying that "the EU and its member states want to challenge the emerging power China, including military means."

Published works

*''NATO: A Reckoning with the Atlantic Alliance (2024)''

References

External links