Nilüfer Gündoğan Explained

Nilüfer Gündoğan
Office:Member of the House of Representatives
Term Start:31 March 2021
Term End:5 December 2023
Birth Name:Nilüfer Gündoğan
Birth Date:6 June 1977
Birth Place:Nazımiye, Tunceli, Turkey
Party:Independent (since 2022)
Otherparty:Democrats 66 (2009–2018)
Volt Netherlands (2018–2022)
Children:1

Nilüfer Gündoğan (in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˈnilyfɛr ˈɡʏndoːɦɑn/;[1] born 6 June 1977) is a Dutch politician, who was a member of the House of Representatives. She was elected to the House in the 2021 general election on behalf of Volt Netherlands. In February 2022, she was suspended from its parliamentary group following internal reports of unacceptable behavior. Gündoğan had before worked as a consultant and manager.

Early life and career

Gündoğan was born on 6 June 1977 in Nazımiye, Tunceli Province, Turkey, into an Alevi family, belonging to the Zazas.[2] She has a brother and a sister. Her father had been a teacher in Turkey and had moved to the Netherlands as a guest worker to work in a factory.[2] [3] When Gündoğan was 18 months old and when her father had been in the Netherlands for five years, her family moved to the Netherlands, and she grew up in the Limburg city Weert.[2] [4] [5] There, she attended the secondary school Philips van Horne at vwo level.[6] [7]

She moved in 1996 to Amsterdam to study medicine, but she quit in 2003 without a degree.[5] According to Gündoğan, this was caused by her violent father. She has told that she was hospitalized in September 2001 after her father had attempted to kill her and that she subsequently fell into a depression.[8] [9] [10] [11] In the years 2005–07, she studied political science at Leiden University, but she again did not graduate.[5] [11] Gündoğan worked simultaneously project assistant for the municipality of Amsterdam. She held the position of strategic renewal project manager at the municipality between 2009 and 2012.[5] Gündoğan later worked as a consultant, account manager, and interim manager at several other organizations including Rainman Group and jb Lorenz.[3] [12] [13] When she was elected to the House, she also owned her own consultancy called Nilüfer Advies.[14]

Political career

Gündoğan identifies as a social liberal and joined the political party Democrats 66 (D66) in 2009. She participated in its development program Route66 for two years and served on the board of Amsterdam's D66 wing between late 2011 and 2013.[15] Gündoğan wanted to become D66's Dutch; Flemish: [[lijsttrekker]] in Amsterdam-Zuid for the 2014 elections but lost to Sebastiaan Capel.[16]

Over the years, she became disappointed with some aspects of D66, and she joined Volt in 2018, the year its Dutch branch was founded.[17] [18] [19] Gündoğan stands for a liberal democracy and society and has warned against tampering with liberal democratic principles in the Netherlands.[2] She has been vocal in her support for the European Union to tackle cross-border issues, including the migrant crisis, climate change, digital security, and liberal democracy.[20] Gündoğan was the second candidate of Volt Netherlands in the 2019 European Parliament elections. The party received 1.93% of the vote, not enough to meet the threshold for a seat in the European Parliament.[21]

House of Representatives

In the 2021 Dutch general election, Gündoğan was again placed second on Volt's party list. She had been a candidate to be the party's Dutch; Flemish: lijsttrekker, but this position had gone to Laurens Dassen instead in June 2020.[22] Gündoğan received 41,352 preference votes in the election and her party won three seats.[23] She was installed into the House of Representatives on 31 March. She is on the Procedure Committee and on the Committees for Defence; for Education, Culture and Science; for Finance; and for Public Expenditure. In June 2021, Gündoğan filed a motion to prohibit tobacco lobbying, but it came seven votes short of passing the House.[24] [25] Another proposal of her was a new tax on profit made from the sale of a house, similar to an existing one in France, in order to address rising housing prices by combatting speculation.[26]

She wrote a letter to Speaker Vera Bergkamp with Sjoerd Sjoerdsma (D66), in which they called for a discussion with the House's presidium to address threatening comments made by House members of Forum for Democracy (FVD) during debates. One of the incidents they referred to occurred in 2021 when Gündoğan had complained about intimidating emails by DENK and FVD supporters. House member Gideon van Meijeren had subsequently said that he was very proud that his supporters were going all out to change her mind about the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] Gündoğan continued to speak out against extreme language and threats on social media, and she filed a police report following death threats.[28] [29] She mostly blamed right-wing populist politicians, calling Geert Wilders a "nasty racist" on Twitter. She apologized for a tweet in which she said she would inject Thierry Baudet everyday if there would have been a vaccine against fascism.[30] After Gideon van Meijeren declared in a July 2022 speech that farmers could sometimes be justified in using violence during the period of farmers' protests, Gündoğan announced that she would file a criminal complaint for sedition and inciting violence.[31]

Expulsion from Volt

A number of internal complaints about unacceptable behavior by Gündoğan led Volt to suspend her from their parliamentary group on 13 February 2022 awaiting the results of an external investigation.[28] The episode occurred during a wave of allegations of inappropriate behavior against high-profile people in the Netherlands.[32] Gündoğan said that she was unaware of the nature of the complaints.[28] In a statement two days later, she called her suspension disproportionate, and she declared that she would keep her House seat regardless of the outcome of the investigation. She also said that she would be sorry if her working style had made anyone feel unsafe.[33] Her lawyers announced on 18 February that Gündoğan would take legal action against Volt's parliamentary group in order to end her suspension, to get a rectification, and to receive damages. The party stated, in turn, that she was unwilling to cooperate with the external investigation, which Gündoğan had described as not independent.[34] Volt decided to permanently expel Gündoğan from its parliamentary group on 26 February as a result of 13 allegations from fellow party members of physical violence, unwanted sexual advances, intimidation, and abuse of her position. That same day, Gündoğan filed a criminal complaint for defamation against Volt's board, party leader Laurens Dassen, and the accusers.[35] A judge determined on 9 March that the expulsion had been unjust, as procedures had not been followed correctly and as there had been no proper justification, and ordered its immediate reversal as well as €5,000 in damages. Dassen also apologized to Gündoğan in reaction.[36] The proceedings made clear that three complaints concerned sexual advances and another three concerned slaps on the butt, while the others were related to verbal assault and excessive alcohol usage.[37] Gündoğan denied having crossed any boundaries with her behavior.[38]

Newspaper NRC Handelsblad published an article on 13 March outlining several instances of Gündoğan's alleged unacceptable behavior after having spoken with five of the accusers. It included anger outbursts, drunken behavior, and asking for sex as well as a slap on the butt of a female minor, which was described by the victim as intimidation. Gündoğan dismissed the allegations, calling them a smear campaign and calling their level painfully low.[39] Days after the article's publication, Dassen and Volt's board made clear that reconciliation could only be achieved if Gündoğan would withdraw her criminal complaints.[40] She instead told on talk show Jinek that she had expanded them.[41] Volt subsequently announced that it would appeal the judge's decision, and Gündoğan was again expelled from the party's parliamentary group on 22 March following a vote among its three members after the by-laws had been altered to allow for this.[42] [43] Furthermore, Volt's board decided to end her membership of the party on 28 March.[44] Gündoğan returned to the House of Representatives on 10 May as the leader of her own parliamentary group – Lid Gündoğan (Member Gündoğan) – after nearly three months of absence, bringing the number of groups in the House to a record-breaking twenty. She told that the focus of her work would be on finances, democracy, and the rule of law.[45] [46] The Public Prosecution Service dismissed Gündoğan's criminal complaints for defamation a few months later.[47] An Amsterdam appellate court reversed the lower court's earlier decision on 7 February 2023, ruling that Volt had been justified in expelling Gündoğan from their parliamentary group. However, it did conclude that Volt's original press release about Gündoğan's alleged unacceptable behavior had been a little premature and sometimes formulated in an unfortunate way.[48] Volt published a report of its own about the affair in May, but it did not draw any conclusions or provide concrete examples of unacceptable behavior.[49] [50]

2023 general election

The fall of the fourth Rutte cabinet in July 2023 triggered a November snap election. Gündoğan announced she would not run for re-election, saying she did not have enough time to establish a new party.[51]

Personal life

Gündoğan has been living in Amsterdam since 1996.[52] [53] She was married to Bas Vogels, whom she knew from D66. Bas was diagnosed with incurable colorectal cancer months after their relationship had started in January 2014. They married in 2015 in France, and Nilüfer subsequently bore the last name Vogels. Bas was voluntarily euthanized in March 2017, about half a year after the birth of their son Mikail.[8] [54] [55] [56] Gündoğan raises her son as a single parent.[4] She is an atheist.[53]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ML5 Tweede kamer kandidaat Nilüfer Gündogan van de partij Volt . YouTube . 14 March 2023.
  2. 'Nederland kan net als Turkije afglijden naar een illiberale democratie' . Gündoğan . Nilüfer . de Kanttekening . 1 March 2021 . Chris Aalberts . 13 May 2021 . nl . 'The Netherlands could slide into an illiberal democracy just like Turkey' .
  3. Gündoğan . Nilüfer . Rijpkema . Bastiaan . . Arnon Grunberg Ontmoet Nilüfer Gündoğan en Bastiaan Rijpkema . Arnon Grunberg meets Nilüfer Gündoğan and Bastiaan Rijpkema . nl . 13 May 2021 . 10 March 2021 . .
  4. News: 'Wij zijn de generatie Europa' . subscription . nl . . 'We are the European generation' . 13 May 2021 . 15 May 2019 . Duk . Wierd .
  5. News: 'Zo'n vrouw die zonder boerka niet meer naar de supermarkt mag, is dat het waard?' . subscription . . nl . 26 July 2021 . Geels . Boudewijn . Toe Laer . Elfanie . 28 May 2021 . 'Such a woman who is not allowed to go to the supermarket without a burqa, is that worth it?' .
  6. News: Wie is het in opspraak geraakte Tweede Kamerlid Nilüfer Gündogan? 'Mijn karakter wordt ruwer dan het al is' . . nl . 20 February 2022 . 15 February 2022 . subscription . Goossen . Hans . Who is the discredited House of Representatives member Nilüfer Gündoğan? 'My character is becoming rougher than it already was' .
  7. News: Haar vader sloeg haar en echtgenoot Bas stierf aan kanker, maar de in Weert opgegroeide politieke outcast Nilüfer Gündogan breekt niet: 'Laat ze maar komen' . De Limburger . nl . 22 August 2022 . 16 July 2022 . subscription . Hans . Goossen . Her father hit her and her husband Bas died of cancer, but the political outcast Nilüfer Gündoğan, raised in Weert, will not break: 'Let them come' .
  8. News: Nilüfer Gündogan is nog lang niet klaar met Volt: 'Ik ga terugpakken wat mij toebehoort' . . nl . 12 June 2022 . subscription . 30 April 2022 . Visser . Arjan . Nilüfer Gündoğan is not yet done with Volt: 'I will take back whatever belongs to me' .
  9. #11 - De Geknipte Gast met Nilüfer Gündogan (S04) . nl .
    1. 11 - De Geknipte Gast with Nilüfer Gündoğan (S04)
    . Özcan Akyol . . . 19 February 2022 . November 2021 .
  10. 12. Het kwetsbare verhaal van Nilüfer Gündogan, de nummer 2 van VOLT . nl . 12. The vulnerable story of Nilüfer Gündoğan, Volt's number two . Marleen Weener . De Politieke Adem podcast . . 14 May 2021 . 20 November 2020 .
  11. DeGoedeBijlo 039 - Interview met Nilüfer Gündoğan . Gündoğan . Nilüfer . nl . 15 May 2021 . DeGoedeBijlo 039 - Interview with Nilüfer Gündoğan . 1 December 2020 . Lorenzetti Governance Foundation . David de Goede and Vincent Bijlo . .
  12. Nilüfer Vogels accountmanager voor De Eerstelijns . De Eerstelijns . 11 September 2019 . 14 May 2021 . nl . Den Outer . Bianca . Nilüfer Vogels account manager at De Eerstelijns .
  13. News: 'Ik denk sneller: wat een onzin. Hier heb ik geen trek in' . 4–5 . Trouw . nl . 'I am more inclined to think: What nonsense. I'm not interested in this' . Schmidt . Christoph . 15 February 2022 .
  14. News: Meer ondernemers in Kamer, geen landelijke afspiegeling . nl . 13 May 2021 . 2 April 2021 . More entrepreneurs in the House, no reflection of the country . Accountancy Vanmorgen .
  15. Web site: Ledenwijzer D66 . . 13 May 2021 . . nl . 96 . May 2013 . Gündoğan . Nilüfer . Member information D66 .
  16. News: D66-raadslid Capel wordt lijsttrekker in Zuid . D66 councilor Capel becomes lijsttrekker in Zuid . nl . 19 July 2013 . 11 . .
  17. News: Volt schorst Kamerlid Nilüfer Gündogan na beschuldigingen . Volt suspends MP Nilüfer Gündoğan following allegations . nl . 19 February 2022 . 13 February 2022 . . subscription . Zwolsman . Noor .
  18. News: Atatürk, Democratie en Europa: Turks-Nederlandse Nilüfer doet gooi naar Europese zetel met VOLT . Atatürk, democracy, and Europe: Turkish-Dutch Nilüfer makes a bid for a European Parliament seat with Volt . 22 May 2021 . DutchTurks.nl . 14 May 2021 . nl .
  19. News: Trouw . nl . 19 May 2023 . subscription . 10 May 2023 . Schmidt . Christoph . De spanningen binnen Volt tussen Dassen en Gündogan bestonden al veel langer . Tension within Volt between Dassen and Gündoğan had been present earlier .
  20. Web site: Nilüfer Gündoğan. 27 February 2021. Volt. nl.
  21. Web site: Uitslag Europees Parlementsverkiezing 2019 . PDF . Results 2019 European Parliament election . nl . Kiesraad . 4 June 2019 . 22 April 2021 .
  22. News: Wat was het ongewenste gedrag van Nilüfer Gündogan? . NRC . 29 May 2022 . nl . subscription . 13 March 2022 . Valk . Guus . De Koning . Petra . What was Nilüfer Gündoğan's unacceptable behavior? .
  23. Web site: Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021 Proces-verbaal . PDF . Results general election 17 March 2021 Report . 241 . 13 May 2021 . 29 March 2021 . Kiesraad . nl .
  24. News: Tabaksfabrikanten nog altijd welkom in Tweede Kamer na draai van het CDA . Trouw . Tobacco companies still welcome in the House of Representatives after turn of the CDA . nl . 26 July 2021 . 7 July 2021 . Julen . Jeannine .
  25. Web site: Gewijzigde motie van de leden Gündogan en Van der Laan over de uitleg van het FCTC-verdrag herzien (t.v.v. 35504-9) . Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal . nl . 26 July 2021 . Altered motion of the members Gündoğan and Van der Laan about revising the interpretation of the WHO FCTC (replacing 35504-9) .
  26. News: Volt wil overwaarde huizen belasten, Van Rij weet van niets . Volt wants to tax profits from house sales, Van Rij is not aware of it . . nl . 19 February 2022 . 4 February 2022 .
  27. News: Kamerleden D66 en Volt over bedreigingen: 'Wij trekken hier een streep' . . nl . 11 December 2021 . 18 November 2021 . D66 and Volt House members about threats: 'This is where we draw the line' .
  28. News: Nilüfer Gündogan heeft geen idee waarom Volt haar schorst voor grensoverschrijdend gedrag . . nl . 13 February 2022 . 19 February 2022 . Nilüfer Gündogan has no idea why Volt is suspending her due to unacceptable behavior . Brekelmans . Joyce . Korteweg . Ariejan .
  29. News: Volt schorst Kamerlid Nilüfer Gündogan vanwege grensoverschrijdend gedrag . Het Parool . 19 February 2022 . 13 February 2022 . nl . Volt suspends MP Nilüfer Gündogan due to unacceptable behavior . Keultjes . Hanneke .
  30. News: Geschorst Volt-Kamerlid Nilüfer Gündogan: 'Ik heb behoorlijk wat voor mijn kiezen gehad' . Trouw . 15 May 2022 . nl . subscription . 14 February 2022 . Suspended Volt House member Nilüfer Gündoğan: 'I have gone through quite a lot' . Schmidt . Christoph .
  31. News: Het Parool . nl . 22 August 2022 . Kamerlid Nilufer Gündogan doet aangifte tegen FvD'er Gideon van Meijeren om boerenspeech . 12 July 2022 . Quekel . Sebastiaan . House member Nilüfer Gündoğan files a criminal complaint against FVD member Gideon van Meijeren because of farmers' speech .
  32. News: Partijen zoeken naar de grenzen van 'ongewenst gedrag' politici . NRC . subscription . 14 February 2022 . 15 May 2022 . Parties are looking for the boundaries of 'unacceptable behavior' by politicians . nl .
  33. News: Nilüfer Gündogan wil Kamerlid blijven, ongeacht uitkomst onderzoek naar grensoverschrijdend gedrag . de Volkskrant . nl . 15 May 2022 . Korteweg . Ariejan . Nilüfer Gündoğan wants to remain House member, regardless of results of investigation into unacceptable behavior .
  34. News: Geschorst Volt-Kamerlid spant kort geding aan tegen partijleiding . . subscription . nl . 20 February 2022 . 18 February 2022 . Suspended Volt House member starts preliminary proceedings against party leadership .
  35. News: Volt zet Gündogan uit fractie, Kamerlid doet aangifte van smaad en laster . . nl . 15 May 2022 . 26 February 2022 . Volt expels Gündoğan from parliamentary group, House member files criminal complaint for defamation .
  36. News: Volt geeft gevolg aan vonnis, gaat om tafel met Gündoğan . Trouw . subscription . 9 March 2022 . 21 May 2022 . Julen . Jeannine . Volt follows judgement and will talk with Gündoğan .
  37. News: 1 March 2022 . RTL Nieuws . nl . 21 May 2022 . Volt kreeg drie meldingen over seksuele avances van Gündoğan . Volt received three reports about sexual advances by Gündoğan .
  38. News: Na rechterlijke uitspraak wil Volt Gündogan weer in fractie opnemen . NOS . nl . 21 May 2022 . 9 March 2022 . Volt wants Gündoğan to rejoin parliamentary group following court ruling .
  39. News: Wat was het ongewenste gedrag van Nilüfer Gündogan? . What was Nilüfer Gündoğan's unacceptable behavior? . nl . NRC . 11 June 2022 . 13 March 2022 . Valk . Guus . subscription . De Koning . Petra .
  40. News: Volt-bestuur: pas verzoening als Gündoğan aangiftes intrekt . . 15 March 2022 . . 5 June 2022 . nl . Volt's board: Only reconciliation after Gündoğan withdraws criminal complaints .
  41. News: Gündogan wil ondanks ruzie maandag terugkeren naar Volt-fractie . . 5 June 2022 . nl . 17 March 2022 . Gündoğan wants to return to Volt parliamentary group despite quarrel .
  42. News: Volt royeert Nilüfer Gündogan en zet haar uit de fractie . RTL Nieuws . 18 March 2022 . 5 June 2022 . nl . Volt expels Nilüfer Gündoğan and removes her from parliamentary group .
  43. News: Volt zet Gündogan nu officieel uit de fractie . Het Parool . nl . 11 June 2022 . 22 March 2022 . Den Hartog . Tobias . Volt now officially expels Gündoğan from parliamentary group .
  44. News: Bestuur Volt zet Gündogan uit de partij . 29 March 2022 . nl . 11 June 2022 . Board of Volt ends party membership Gündoğan . NOS .
  45. News: Gündoğan weer aan het werk: 'Heb niets om me voor te schamen' . RTL Nieuws . 12 June 2022 . nl . 9 May 2022 . Gündoğan resumes her work: 'I have nothing to be ashamed of' .
  46. News: Gündogan weer aan het werk als Kamerlid . NOS . nl . 12 June 2022 . 10 May 2022 . Gündoğan returns as House member .
  47. News: OM seponeert zaak Gündogan tegen Volt over smaad en laster . NOS . nl . 22 August 2022 . 14 July 2022 . Public Prosecution Service dismisses Gündoğan's defamation case against Volt .
  48. News: Volt krijgt in hoger beroep alsnog gelijk: de partij mocht Nilüfer Gündoğan uit fractie zetten . De Limburger . nl . 13 March 2023 . 7 February 2023 . Volt was right after all on appeal: The party was allowed to expel Nilüfer Gündoğan from the parliamentary group .
  49. News: Na jaar heeft Volt evaluatie Gündogan af: 194 pagina's zonder details over vermeend grensoverschrijdend gedrag . Het Parool . nl . 19 May 2023 . 8 May 2013 . Volt has finished evaluation Gündoğan after a year: 194 pages without details about alleged unacceptable behavior . Keultjes . Hanneke .
  50. News: Doorgroeiend Volt is nog niet klaar met de kwestie-Gündogan . de Volkskrant . nl . 19 May 2023 . Slendebroek . Wian . 13 May 2013 . Growing Volt still not done with Gündoğan affair . subscription .
  51. News: Gündogan neemt afscheid van de Tweede Kamer. 'Onrealistisch om zo snel een partij op te zetten' . Trouw . 10 October 2023 . subscription . Schmidt . Christoph . Gündoğan says goodbye to House of Representatives. 'Not realistic to establish a party this quickly' . 23 August 2023 .
  52. Web site: Nilüfer Gündoğan . . 19 November 2023 .
  53. 'De orthodox gelovige woont in mijn ideale wereld in harmonie met de atheïst' . Nieuw Wij . Gündoğan . Nilüfer . 13 March 2021 . nl . 13 May 2021 . 'In my ideal world, Orthodox believers live in harmony with atheists' .
  54. News: De ondergang van Nilüfer Gündogan: 'In Lissabon stond ze laveloos op straat' . nl . 12 June 2022 . AD . Keultjes . Hanneke . subscription . 24 April 2022 . The downfall of Nilüfer Gündoğan: 'She was standing sloshed on the street in Lisbon' .
  55. Web site: De man van Nilüfer Gündoğan overleed aan kanker: 'Het allerergste is je dierbaren zien lijden' . Flair . Munnik . Eva . 26 July 2021 . nl . 19 June 2021 . Nilüfer Gündoğan's husband died from cancer: 'Seeing your loved ones suffering is the worst thing' .
  56. Bas Vogels overleden . Bas Vogels passed away . 10 March 2017 . . nl . 14 May 2021 .

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