Former Belgian female politician, now Turkey’s family and social minister

Former Belgian politician Mahinur Özdemir Göktas, known in Belgium for refusing to recognise the Armenian genocide, was named Turkey’s Family and Social Services Minister, making her the only female in the 17-member cabinet.

On Sunday, Göktas thanked Erdoğan on Twitter after she was appointed to the position on Saturday. She and the other appointed ministers took over their predecessors on Monday.

“May this new period, in which we will work with the principle of “strong family, strong Turkey” and work towards the goal of a great Turkey, be beneficial to our country and nation,” she said.

Born in Belgium in 1982, Mahinur Özdemir Göktas started her political career in 2006 as a municipal councillor in Schaarbeek (Brussels) as part of the former Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) party (now “Les Engagés”/EPP).

In 2009, she became the first headscarf-wearing politician elected to the Brussels parliament – which sparked a debate on religious symbols in political assemblies.

She was expelled from her party in 2015 after refusing to recognise the Armenian genocide and served as an independent in Schaarbeek municipal council and the Brussels parliament.

During her political career in Belgium, she developed close ties with her country of origin. First of all, she kept her Belgian-Turkish nationality. Then, in 2010, she married the lawyer Hüseyin Rahmi Göktaş, who was a parliamentary attaché to Edibe Sözen, an Islamo-conservative Turkish MP and member of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). During the ceremony, Erdoğan, then prime minister and considered one of Turkey’s most powerful men, was present with his family.

Her exclusion from her party was criticised by the AKP.

Some Belgian politicians accused her of being an undercover agent of Erdoğan in Europe. Reformist Movement (MR/Renew Europe) Denis Ducarme notably accused her of playing the “communitarianism, fundamentalism and radicalism” card in 2012, but she always dismissed such accusations.

In light of this nomination, the Flemish Vlaams Belang (Identity and Democracy) party reiterated its calls to abolish the dual nationality system for political representatives and will question the federal government about it.

“The problem of dual nationality and the accompanying conflict of interests cannot be better illustrated than by the appointment of Göktas as a minister in the Turkish government,” Vlaams Belang’s president Tom Van Grieken said.

“Not only does the retention of dual nationality import foreign conflicts […] Politicians here should work for people here and not serve the interests of foreign dictators,” he added.

Belgian MEP Assita Kanko, a member of the ECR group (Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, NV-A), commented on the news on Twitter: “[…] 10 years in the Brussels Parliament to do nothing except promote the headscarf and vehemently deny the Armenian genocide. Now she can continue promoting her misogynistic ideas but in Erdogan’s Turkey. […]”

Local councillor in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean and member of the social-liberal Défi party Rachid Ben Salah officially congratulated Göktas, but the party president, François De Smet, replied to a tweet that these congratulations were “totally inappropriate and do not engage DéFI”.

“On the contrary, Ozdemir’s path should make all parties think about the excesses of a certain communitarianism,” he continued.

(Anne-Sophie Gayet | EURACTIV.com)