Yildiz Akdogan (born 29 April 1973) is a Turkish-Danish politician, who was a member of the

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

for the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2014 to 2019. Along with Özlem Cekic, she was one of the first female immigrant politicians to be elected to the Folketing.

Background

Akdogan was born in Turkey and was raised by her paternal grandparents for the first five-and-a-half years of her life. Her mother moved to

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

in Denmark shortly after her birth and her father was called up to do

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

in Turkey. The family were reunited in 1979, when Akdogan and her father moved to Denmark. Prior to being elected to the Folketing, Akdogan received an MSc in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

in 2006. She had previously worked as a journalist for the Danish-Turkish newspaper ''Haber''. She has published widely on

social integration Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society. Social integration, together with economic integration and identity integration, are three main dimensions o ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

. Akdogan is a board member and spokesperson for the Democratic Muslims, a network set up in the wake of the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy The Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, ) began after the Danish newspaper published twelve editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005 depicting Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in what it said was a response to the deb ...

Political career

Akdogan was elected into parliament at the 2007 Danish general election, but was not reelected in the 2011 election. She received 2,599 votes, which was not enough to win her a seat in parliament. Instead she became the Social Democrats' primary substitute in the Copenhagen constituency. When Karen Hækkerup resigned her seat on 21 October 2014, Akdogan was called upon to take over Hækkerup's seat. Akdogan served the remainder of the term and was reelected in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. She failed to win reelection in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)
1973 births Living people People from Çorum Aarhus University alumni Danish Muslims Turkish emigrants to Denmark 21st-century Danish women politicians Women members of the Folketing Members of the Folketing 2007–2011 Members of the Folketing 2011–2015 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 {{Denmark-politician-stub