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Lee Heidhues 9.20.2026
Die Linke is on its way to securing the Mayoralty in one of the world’s largest cities. Berlin. Its candidate, Elif Eralp was born in Germany. Her parents emigrated from Turkey following persecution from its government, The result of their political activities.
Eralp, a 45 year old attorney, is being compared to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The Left party sees itself “in a party-political tradition that goes back to Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht“. [14] The Left Party was officially formed on 16 June 2007 through the merger of the two parties WASG and the Left Party PDS. [15] Die Linke – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eralp and her The Left party which gained 25.6% of the vote will now have to resolve outstanding issues and negotiate a power sharing agreement with The Greens (14.3%) and the Socialists (12.1%).
One of outstanding issue will be to placate Berlin’s Jewish community which feels threatened by The Left Party’s criticism of Israel and its three year onslaught in Gaza. (See Below)
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 9.20.2026
With the socialist Left Party securing the largest share of the state parliamentary vote in Berlin, the party’s mayoral candidate Elif Eralp celebrated the victory of “love and justice over hate.”
Elif Eralp ([ˈeːlɪf ˈɛɾalp][1][2]; born 14 January 1981 in Munich) is a German-Turkish[3] politician (Die Linke). She has been a member of the Berlin House of Representatives since 2021. She was the top candidate of the Berlin Left Party for the 2026 parliamentary elections and thus a candidate for the office of Governing Mayor of Berlin. Elif Eralp – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Starting today, we are changing Berlin together and make it a better place,” said Eralp, who hopes to become the first female mayor of Berlin with immigration background.
Eralp was born in Munich in 1981 to a family of Turkish refugees. While her victory speech was mostly in German, she also shouted out “We wrote history, friends” in Turkish during her address.
The Left Party has big plans for Berlin, including tackling its housing crisis by expropriating real estate own by large corporations. In order for Eralp to become the mayor of Berlin and the head of its state government, however, her party would need to form a coalition, with the center-left SPD and the environmentally friendly Green Party being the most likely contenders for a power-sharing deal.
“We are fighting in Berlin to turn the city red,” read the lead motion presented to the delegates at the Left Party‘s federal party convention. Red is the color of the Left Party, but also of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). According to latest polls, a three-way coalition of both alongside the Greens could secure a majority in the September election for the city state’s parliament.
Berlin has been “red” in the past. From 2016 to 2023 it was governed by such a three-way coalition — under the leadership of successive SPD mayors. This time, the Left Party is dreaming of winning the election and taking over the mayoralty itself with its candidate Elif Eralp. The 45-year-old has a remarkable background: Her parents were active in politics and trade unions in Turkey before fleeing to Germany in 1980 as asylum-seekers following a military coup, just weeks before Eralp’s birth.
Excerpted from The Times of Israel 9.18.2026
First they take Manhattan? Looking to mimic Mamdani, far left’s Elif Eralp eyes Berlin City Hall
Jewish community wary as Die Linke party’s mayoral candidate vows to fight antisemitism ahead of September 20 election; critics claim she can’t even control it within her own party
BERLIN — Last November, Germany’s far-left Die Linke party sent a delegation to New York City to study Zohran Mamdani’s successful mayoral campaign. Inspired by his approach, Die Linke launched a Berlin street campaign focused heavily on housing and affordability
With charismatic 45-year-old Elif Eralp as its lead candidate, Die Linke has a strong chance of winning Berlin City Hall. But that would not be the only parallel to Mamdani: Just as in New York, the relationship between the political left and Berlin’s Jewish population — the largest in Germany, with an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 Jews — is deeply strained.
Tensions worsened sharply in late August following a controversial performance by rapper Dahabflex at a Die Linke rally in the Berlin district of Neukölln. His song “Stop the Genocide” included lyrics such as “Yalla, yalla intifada,” “Death to the IDF,” and “Intifada like the PFLP,” a reference to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terrorist organization.
In the ensuing debate over antisemitism within Die Linke, Eralp sought to contain the fallout. She condemned the rapper’s performance, saying she stood “clearly for the protection of Jewish life and against any form of antisemitism.” She also placed responsibility on the party’s Neukölln district branch, which had invited the musician.
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