Huseyin Kenan Aydin told Rudaw on Friday that the Left Party had been “severely harmed and weakened” due to internal splits among its leadership. Aydin, who played a key role in building and strengthening the Left Party, said, “I couldn't watch these developments from the sidelines,” and “decided to return to politics and take responsibility once again.”
Aydin, a Kurd from Turkey whose family was executed by Turkish authorities, moved to Germany during his early school years and has a long history of advocating for minority rights.
His political career began in the Social Democratic Party, but left it in 2005 to help establish a left-wing front. Two years later, in 2007, he became one of the founding members of the Left Party and served as a member of Germany’s national parliament, the Bundestag, from 2005 to 2009.
Aydin remains focused on social issues and the needs of low-income voters. “Unlike all the other parties, we have consistently prioritized social issues such as income,” he said. “Germany has around 40 million workers, yet more than 10 million are employed under precarious conditions, with temporary contracts.”
On Sunday, 12 Kurdish candidates vied for votes in the German elections. While the majority of Kurds in Germany tend to support center-left parties, some also belong to the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
The CDU recently faced backlash for its cooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on an anti-immigration bill they attempted to pass last month. The AfD, a far-right party known for its opposition to immigration and support for mass deportations, is currently polling in second place.
