ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish candidates won many seats in Germany's most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia as the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) secured victory during the local elections on Sunday, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) tripled its vote share, preliminary results showed Monday.
The CDU took around 34 percent of votes in the state of nearly 18 million people, maintaining its dominance despite a slight drop from 2020. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) came second with 22.5 percent. But the biggest story was the surge by the far-right AfD, which jumped to 16.5 percent - more than three times more than the 5.1 percent it gained in the previous polls. The Green Party won around 11 percent, down from 20 percent in 2020, according to preliminary results published by DW.
The elections marked the first major local test since Friedrich Merz became Chancellor in May, with the AfD's gains reflecting its broader push into western German states where it has traditionally been weaker.
Germany hosts the largest Kurdish diaspora in Europe.
Kurdish candidates achieved mixed but significant results, with several winning seats on mainstream German party tickets even as dedicated Kurdish lists struggled to break through, according to Rudaw reporters in Germany.
Twelve Kurdish candidates won seats on integration councils across North Rhine-Westphalia. Winners included Baran Yenen in Aachen, Silda Koledamja in Bocholt, and Mahmoud Sumo in Bochum representing the CDU. In the town of Bad Oeynhausen, both Kawa Shekhe and Qahraman Chika secured seats on the Forgiveness and Reconciliation list.
Munster elected two Kurdish members - Samir Sufok on the Hope list and Dler Sabir on the Global list. Bielefeld also chose two representatives with Azad Amek running as an independent and Murad Aykanat on a party list. Other winners were Ilyas Badal in Minden on a Yazidi list, Mohammed Kanet in Herford, and Parwar Shamo in Bad Salzuflen.
Berivan Aymaz, a Green Party candidate born to a Kurdish family in Bingol province of Turkey in 1972, led Cologne's mayoral race with 28.1 percent of votes but fell short of the required majority. She will face SPD candidate Torsten Burmester in a September 28 runoff.
Aymaz, who has served as deputy speaker of the North Rhine-Westphalia parliament since 2017 - the first with an immigrant background in that role - represents a new generation of Kurdish political integration in Germany.
Dozens of Kurds were running in the polls.
In Bochum, candidates from multiple nationalities formed the International List (ILBO) for Integration Council elections, with most members being Kurdish.
The AfD has emerged as Germany's second-largest political force nationally, though its support base remains concentrated in eastern states. Results of the Sunday vote suggested the party is making inroads in western regions previously resistant to far-right appeals.
Results in some cities including Leverkusen remained pending, where a Kurdish list called Unity " was expected to win several seats. Nearly 20,000 candidates competed for 427 mayoral positions across the region, with 36 races heading to runoffs due to the 50-percent threshold requirement.
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