Cem Özdemir of the German Greens pulled off a hard-fought victory in the state election in Baden-Württemberg on Sunday and is now set to become the country's first state premier of Turkish heritage. In Sunday's election for Baden-Württemberg's state parliament, Özdemir led the party in overcoming poll deficits against the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He also had more experience of election campaigning, having run as the Greens' lead candidate for the 2017 federal election, together with Katrin Goering-Eckardt. And Özdemir has used his national profile to voice opposition to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. AdvertisementIn 2016 Özdemir also initiated a resolution in the German parliament to "commemorate the Armenian genocide", a label which Turkey rejects.

Source: The Local March 09, 2026 15:11 UTC