ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurds in Germany are well known in politics and play an active role in society, according to Kamil Bazrgan, a social consultant who spoke to Rudaw on Sunday, just hours before polls closed in the country’s federal elections. In a televised interview with Rudaw’s Hemin Abdulla, Bazrgan stated that Kurdish candidates in Germany’s federal elections are “well known,” emphasizing the Kurdish community’s active participation in German politics. He cited official government data estimating the Kurdish population in Germany at around 1.3 million, though he noted that it could be higher. Many Kurds hold citizenship and have the right to vote, he elaborated. Bazrgan also discussed refugee representation in German politics, noting that while 30 percent of Germany’s population consists of refugees, most have obtained German citizenship. He highlighted that 11.4 percent of representatives in the outgoing federal parliament descend from refugee families, though the representation is lower at the state level. He pointed out that nearly 10 million refugees in Germany - 41.4 percent of the total refugee population - lack voting rights due to not having citizenship. He also observed a decline in voter turnout among refugees compared to previous years, with refugees not necessarily supporting leftist parties. On Sunday, Germans went to the polls in high-stakes federal parliamentary elections, with the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leading in opinion polls and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) projected to secure around 20 percent of the vote. A total of 630 parliamentary seats were up for grabs, with over 59 million eligible voters. According to a recent poll by Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s state-owned international broadcaster, immigration and economic issues were among the most pressing concerns for voters. Among the candidates running in the elections, 12 Kurds represented various parties. While most Kurds in Germany support center-left parties, some are affiliated with the center-right CDU, which recently faced backlash for cooperating with the AfD on an anti-immigration bill. On Sunday, Giyasettin Sayan, a former Kurdish politician in Germany, told Rudaw that the Kurdish community needs to establish its “own associations and institutions.” He emphasized that “such initiatives are crucial for preserving Kurdish heritage and securing future generations’ rights.”
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