Aygül Özkan

Aygül Özkan ( born August 27, 1971 in Hamburg ) is a German politician (CDU ) Turkish descent and was on April 27, 2010 to February 19, 2013 Minister of Social Affairs, Women, Family, Health and Integration in Lower Saxony.

Life

Aygül Özkan is the daughter of an immigrant in the 1960s from Ankara to Hamburg family. Her father made ​​after five years working as guest workers in the Federal Post Office with a tailor independently. She attended the High School Avenue and obtained her high school diploma in 1990. With 18 years, or during their school years, they had chosen the German nationality. She took a degree in law with a focus on European and International Economic Law at the University of Hamburg. After the first state examination followed from 1995 to 1997 the law, both in Lower Saxony, with positions including at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and the European Parliament in Brussels. You passed the second state examination and is a licensed attorney since 1998, the District Court of Hamburg. Özkan graduated from 1998 to 1999 a trainee program for young executives at Deutsche Telekom, was professionally linked to in the next few years they. In 2004 she took over the management of the business customer sales North at T-Mobile, then moved as chief of logistics company TNT Post Germany and built the Hamburg branch - with around 400 employees - on. In 2010 it was announced that they had paid as a manager of the postal service wages that were below the industry minimum wage. The labor lawyer Otto Ernst Kempen shot her before then, " to have crossed border to the moral standards " the.

Aygül Özkan is a board member of the Association of Turkish entrepreneurs and start-ups eV (ATU ) and the Association of Independent migrants eV ( ASM). In addition, it is member of the business delegation as well as the integration of the Advisory Board of Hanseatic city and belongs to the German -Turkish Lawyers Association.

Aygül Özkan is married to a Turkish-born gynecologist and mother of a son. It educates her son bilingually and " bicultural " with the " best of both worlds."

In December 2011 Aygül Özkan received an e -mail with a xenophobic and threatening content, pointing to a video on the internet. The video, in which deportations are advocated and the Hitler salute is shown came from the right-wing grouping better Hanover. The State Security Department of the Police Department Hanover identified the consignor against because of showing the Hitler salute in the video a criminal investigation on suspicion of using symbols of unconstitutional organizations is performed. It was the head of the group, a former chairman of the NPD in Hanover.

Policy

Aygül Özkan joined the CDU in 2004. In the Hamburg state election 2008, she was placed by the former Hamburg CDU chief Dirk Fischer on the secure 15th place in the country list and entered the citizenry. In March 2008, she was professional speaker for business and industry of their group and sat in the Social and Equality Committee and the Economic Affairs Committee.

On June 28, 2008, she was elected vice- chairman of the CDU national association of Hamburg. It was involved in the integration of young foreigners.

On 27 April 2010 Özkan was appointed as the successor of Mechthild Ross- Luttmann Minister for Social Affairs, Women, Family, Health and Integration in Lower Saxony. This was a woman with a migration background and Muslim faith in country's Minister in Germany for the first time. The Ministry has been compared with the previous cut to the field of integration expanded the previously belonged to the Department of the Interior Minister Uwe Schünemann. Minister President Christian Wulff said Özkan woman should " the serious mistakes that were made ​​for years in integration policies compensate ". Özkan appointed on 27 April 2010 Heiner Pott Secretary of State in their ministry.

Özkans appeal took place in Turkey, a large and positive. The Turkish foreign policy Yaşar Yakis said, show it to the Turks living in Germany that they could make it to the highest positions. Woman Özkan difference due to the lost of the CDU parliamentary elections on February 19, 2013 from the office of minister of. Although 2013 was a candidate as a direct candidate of the CDU in parliament constituency Hannover- center to the state elections in Lower Saxony and 3rd place occupied by the country's list of the CDU in this election, Aygül Özkan won surprisingly no seat in the Lower Saxony state parliament since Michael Höntsch (SPD), the direct mandate in their constituency won and the CDU Lower Saxony could achieve no mandates on the state list because of their poor second vote results. However, they moved on 26 March 2014 the retiring MP David McAllister in the state legislature after.

Migration policy

As Minister of Lower Saxony to Özkan began for the early childhood education of migrant children and campaigned for their parents that they send their children early in the daycare ( daycare ). They also advocated that young migrants find an apprenticeship and train entrepreneurs with the same background young people. "Integration works best on the labor market." Özkan asked in an interview more judges with a migration background, " so that individuals may also see here does not decide a foreign authority, but we are there to also. " Based on the crucifix ruling in 1995 the Federal Constitutional Court, they demanded that classrooms at public compulsory schools would have to be free of religious symbols: " Christian symbols do not belong to government schools. The school should be a neutral place. " A child must be able to decide how it is oriented religious. Therefore, head scarves have " in classrooms nothing to search".

Criticism

The former Lower Saxony Prime Minister Christian Wulff distanced himself from the position Özkans and said: "In Lower Saxony are Christian symbols, especially crosses in the schools by the provincial government in the sense of a tolerant education welcomes based on Christian values ​​." For reasons of religious freedom head scarves are tolerated at pupils - but not for teachers, what Özkan have also meant: ". Mrs. Özkan has expressed her personal opinion on the ideological neutrality, but it is not the Lower Saxon practice in question " Wulff also criticized overreactions by Özkans crucifix comments and rejected calls for his resignation to the Minister with the words: "Perhaps some men fear the appointment of the first Muslim woman to minister in Germany the demise of the Christian West ."

Özkan even made ​​it clear before the CDU and in a statement to the Lower Saxony state parliament that she had the controversial interview prematurely and, " in ignorance of the lived in Lower Saxony practice."

In July 2010, plans for a Özkans "Media Charter for Lower Saxony " were known. In this, journalists should commit to a " culturally sensitive " language, " sustained support " of the integration process in Lower Saxony and the initiation and monitoring of projects to promote integration. The mails sent to journalists in Lower Saxony by e -mail draft was criticized and rejected by the German Association of Journalists and the Lower Saxony SPD faction as censorship and tried to influence. Özkan said that it had only " first possible basis for discussion " been a by which the independence of the media should not be touched. Özkan finally moved away from their projects off again after Prime Minister David McAllister made ​​it clear that the Lower Saxony State Chancellery and not the Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for media policy in the Lower Saxony state government; He said: " We have all learned from this and will do everything that such an error is not repeated. " For him, freedom of the press have particularly high importance.