List of German people of Kurdish descent explained

This is a list of notable individuals who are of full or partial Kurdish origin who grew up and/or live in Germany.

Academia and Medicine

• Jamal Nebez, linguist, mathematician, politician, author, translator and writer
• Bachtyar Ali, novelist, intellectual, literary critic, essayist, and poet
• Rauf Ceylan, German-Turkish sociologist and author
• Khalil Rashow, academic, writer, and researcher
• Nadia Murad – human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
• Khanna Omarkhali - academic and researcher
• Gülşen Aktaş, educator

Artists

• Bahzad Sulaiman – performance maker and visual artist

Athletes

• Agit Kabayel, boxer
• Deniz Naki, football player
• Mahmoud Dahoud, football player
• Baker Barakat, boxer and kickboxer
• Deniz Undav, football player
• Mirkan Aydın, football player
• Aias Aosman, football player
• Youssef Amyn, football player
• Joan Oumari, football player^[1]
• Hassan Oumari, football player
• Dilan Ağgül, football player

Musicians

Rappers

• Haftbefehl (Kurdish father and Turkish mother)
• KC Rebell
• Eko Fresh (Kurdish mother and Turkish father)
  • • • • Azad Xatar Kurdo Eno Capo (Kurdish father and Turkish mother)
    • AK Ausserkontrolle Fero47 Bero Bass

Singers

• Namosh
• Ferhat Tunç
• Engin Nurşani
• Nizamettin Ariç
• Ali Baran
• Hozan Canê
• Serhat Baran

DJs

• Kurd Maverick

Politicians

in German parties

• Sevim Dağdelen, German politician and a member of the Left Party (die Linke)
• Evrim Sommer, German politician
• Gökay Akbulut, German politician and social scientist. She is currently serving in the Bundestag (federal parliament) as a member of The Left Party from the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg
• Kassem Taher Saleh, German civil engineer and politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens
• Kenan Engin, German-Kurdish political scientist
• Leyla Güven, Kurdish Politician
• Lamiya Haji Bashar, human rights activist. She was awarded the Sakharov Prize jointly with Nadia Murad in 2016
• Ali Atalan, Kurdish-German politician of Yazidi faith. He is a former member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia with Die Linke in Germany, and the Turkish Parliament with the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)
• Cansu Özdemir, German politician of The Left from Hamburg. She is a member of the Hamburg Parliament
• Muhterem Aras,  German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. She has been a Member of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg for the constituency Stuttgart I since May 2011, and Landtagspräsidentin (speaker) since May 2016
• Hamide Akbayir German politician
• Hüseyin Kenan Aydın, German politician and member of Die Linke.

in foreign parties or organisations

• Haji Ahmadi (Iran; grew up in Iran and lives in exile in Germany)
• Leyla İmret (grew up in Germany and lived in Turkey)
• Feleknas Uca (grew up in Germany and lives in Turkey)

Cinema

• Züli Aladağ, film director, film producer, and screenwriter (Kurdish and Turkish origin)^[2]
• Ayşe Polat, script writer and film director
• Yasemin Şamdereli, German film director, screen writer and actress
• Düzen Tekkal, German author, television journalist, filmmaker, war correspondent, political scientist, and social entrepreneur of Kurdish–Yazidi descent
• Nizamettin Ariç, film director

Writers and Literature

• Seyran Ateş (Kurdish father and Turkish mother)
  • • • • • • Rohat Alakom Düzen Tekkal Lamiya Haji Bashar Eskerê Boyîk Nadia Murad Bachtyar Ali Eskerê Boyîk, writer
  • Khalil Rashow Fatma Aydemir, author and journalist
• Meşale Tolu, German journalist and translator

Miscellaneous

• Hatun Sürücü, victim of a so-called "honor killing" by her youngest brother in 2005

See also

• Kurds in Germany
• List of Kurds
• Kurdish diaspora

Notes and References

1. Web site: الحارس حسن يلتحق بالتمرين والعمري جديد المحترفين. 2020-06-30. الأخبار. ar.
2. Web site: 2015. Züli Aladag, film director. Deutsche Welle. Whenever I'm asked about my nationality, I say, "I'm a German of Kurdish and Turkish descent.". 2 January 2021.