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Long before she was topping polls in Berlin’s mayoral race, Elif Eralp’s political DNA was forged by trade-unionist parents who fled persecution in Türkiye right after the military coup in 1980. The coup changed everything, left a mark on everybody's lives across the country.
Today, the grassroots-driven socialist is channeling those migrant roots into a historic bid for the capital, capturing global attention amid a polarized political climate.
Turkish-German lawyer and politician Eralp is heading into Berlin’s Sept. 20 state election as Die Linke’s lead candidate, putting housing affordability, migration and social inequality at the center of her campaign.
Born in Munich in 1981, Eralp is the daughter of a couple who arrived in Germany as political asylum seekers. She was born about a month after their arrival. Her mother is from Adana and her father from Kayseri.
Now 45, Eralp has lived in Berlin for 16 years. She has served in the Berlin House of Representatives since 2021, became deputy chair of Die Linke’s parliamentary group in 2024, and took on the role of deputy state chair of the party in 2025.
If she ultimately becomes Berlin’s governing mayor, she would become Germany’s first female state leader with a migration background.
Eralp has said politics was part of her life from childhood, although she stresses that her parents did not impose their views on her.
Speaking to Oksijen, she said: “I grew up in a left-wing environment because of my family, but my mother and father never tried to direct me ideologically.”
She also said she became sensitive to injustice at a young age and that witnessing racism helped shape her interest in human rights.
Her own political involvement began even earlier.
Speaking to Deutsche Welle, Eralp said she first became interested in politics at around the age of 10, when she and two friends founded an “environment club” in the garage of their rented apartment.
“I started by founding an ‘environment club’ with two friends in the garage of our rented apartment and preparing and distributing posters demanding the protection of the natural environment,” she told DW.
“Later, I joined the movement protesting nuclear power plants and struggles against racism and gentrification.”
By around the age of 12, experiences of injustice and racism had pushed her toward the idea of working in human rights.
Eralp later studied law in Hamburg and completed an internship with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, while becoming active in migrant and refugee rights.
Before entering the Berlin state parliament, she spent around 11 years working as a legal adviser for Die Linke in the Bundestag.
Housing has become the central issue of Eralp’s campaign.
Known in Berlin as a tenants’ rights activist, she has made rising rents, affordability and the role of large housing companies key themes of her bid for the city’s top political office.
Die Linke supports implementing the result of Berlin’s 2021 housing referendum, in which 57.6% of participating voters backed a proposal to begin the legal process for bringing the housing stocks of private companies owning more than 3,000 apartments into public ownership.
The referendum itself did not automatically result in expropriation, but Eralp continues to support implementing its result.
Speaking to the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency, she said: “Berlin should become a better place to live. In particular, rents need to come down.”
Her campaign proposals include limiting rents in apartments owned by Berlin’s public housing companies and establishing a task force to tackle excessive rents.
In a five-point plan published on Sept. 14, Eralp wrote: “My goal is clear: Rent must not run away from people.”
The plan also calls for a free bulky-waste collection day, direct visits to all 56 Berlin localities and a New Year’s reception at the Red City Hall for people experiencing homelessness.
“A mayor who goes to the neighborhoods instead of waiting for them,” she wrote, describing her plan to meet residents across the city and hear directly what works, what does not and what they expect from their mayor.
Eralp has often been compared in media coverage to Zohran Mamdani, with parallels drawn between their immigrant backgrounds, left-wing politics and focus on affordability.
Eralp has said she was pleased by Mamdani’s political success and expressed hope that Berlin could see a similar result.
Her own campaign also places strong emphasis on the political participation of people with migration backgrounds.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), she said: “I want to pursue a unifying politics. Everyone, including people with migration backgrounds, needs to be included. That is not happening enough at the moment.”
Eralp has also said organizations representing people with migration backgrounds should receive greater financial support, particularly as part of efforts to combat racism.
On the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, she has argued in favor of banning the party, describing it as racist and anti-democratic.
However, she has also said a ban alone would not be enough.
“The problems do not come from people with migration backgrounds or refugees. The problem is the wrong policy,” she told AA.
Eralp argues that problems such as housing insecurity and weakened social rights also need to be addressed if the rise of the AfD is to be challenged.
The Gaza war and Germany’s approach toward Israel have also become part of Eralp’s political positioning.
Referring to the international arrest warrant issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Eralp said that she would support efforts to have it enforced if he came to Berlin.
“If Netanyahu comes to Berlin, I will fight here for his arrest. The federal police are primarily responsible for this, but I will do what I can,” she said.
Eralp has also criticized police interventions during pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Berlin.
“We have seen a lot of police violence at marches related to Palestine. This needs to stop, and I think it is possible to stop it,” she told AA.
She argued that whether such practices continue is ultimately a matter of political will.
Outside politics, Eralp maintains close ties to Türkiye.
Her father and many of her relatives live in the country, and she visits every year. She also completed an internship in Istanbul while she was a student.
Speaking to Turkish media outlet Hurriyet, Eralp described Türkiye as her second home after Berlin.
“I love Türkiye very much. After Berlin, it is my second home,” she said.
Her connection to Türkiye also shows up in everyday life.
Eralp told Hurriyet that she cooks dishes including leek, green beans and lentil soup, while saying her mother is particularly good at preparing food from Adana.
Her music taste carries a similar connection.
She said she listens to Michael Jackson with her children but prefers Turkish pop when she is alone, particularly music from the 1990s.
“I have loved Tarkan since my youth. I also listen to Sertab Erener a lot,” she told Hurriyet.
She has also watched Turkish television series including "Hatirla Sevgili," "Oyle Bir Gecer Zaman Ki" and, more recently, "Bahar."
“Living far from Türkiye, you miss the people, the conversations, the food and the traditions,” she said.
From a childhood shaped by political refugee status and experiences of racism to environmental activism, law, migrant rights and Berlin politics, Eralp’s path has developed around many of the issues now at the heart of her campaign.
On Sept. 20, she enters the Berlin state election as Die Linke’s lead candidate, seeking to carry that path from the state parliament to Berlin’s highest political office.
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