Ali Atalan
| Ali Atalan | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia | |
| In office 2010–2012 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 5, 1968 Midyat, Turkey |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | Die Linke |
Ali Atalan (born 5 January 1968 in Midyat, Turkey) is a German politician with the Left North Rhine-Westphalia (the state chapter of the national Left Party) and a former member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Biography
Ali Atalan grew up in a Yazidi-Kurdish family and came to Germany in 1985. After completing his Abitur in 1997,[1] he studied political science and sociology at the Ruhr University Bochum, where he graduated in 2004 with a Diplom in social science.[1]
In Dülmen, he belonged to the social committee of the city council from 1990 until 1994.[2]
A member of the Greens from 1998 until 2001, he became a member of the Left Party in Germany in 2001. In 2004, he became a member of the city council in Münster. In the 2010 state elections, he was eighth on the state party list for the Left. As a result of the election, the party sent 11 members to parliament, and so from 2010 until 2012, he belonged to the 15th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.[1]
During the 2010 election period, Atalan's opponents made reference to his association with "The Anti-Capitalist Left", which has been investigated for suspicion of hostility against the German constitution, but whose political goals he supports. Atalan stated then that being against capitalism is not the same as being against the constitution, and that the German constitution is not inherently capitalist. Also during this time, his connection to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which was in open military conflict with the Turkish government from 1984 until 2013, was called into question. Atalan clarified that he was not a member of the PKK, but maintained that the ban on the PKK by the German government was counter-productive, and that Germany's position was used by Turkey to justify violence against the Kurds.[3]
External links
- Archived homepage of Ali Atalan
- 13 questions answered by Ali Atalan
- WDR profile on Ali Atalan
- Representative Watch profile on Ali Atalan
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.landtag.nrw.de/portal/WWW/Webmaster/GB_I/I.1/Abgeordnete/abgeordnetendetail.jsp?k=01539
- ↑ Ratsinfo der Stadt Dülmen
- ↑ http://www.wn.de/Muenster/2010/05/Nachrichten-Muenster-Ali-Atalan-Ich-bekenne-mich-dazu