Cansın Köktürk

Cansın Köktürk (born 13 June 1993) is a German politician and member of the Bundestag.^[1] A member of The Left, she has represented North Rhine-Westphalia since March 2025.

Köktürk was born on 13 June 1993 in Hattingen and is of Turkish origin.^[1][2] She studied social work at the University of Duisburg-Essen.^[3] She worked as a social worker after graduating and was later a director of an emergency shelter for refugees, the homeless and people with addictions in Nordbad, Bochum.^[3][4] She worked in the youth welfare sector for many years, specialising in families in poverty.^[3] She later worked as a social worker in a school.^[3][5] She was also founder and chairperson of Medizinische Flüchtlingshilfe Bochum (Bochum Medical Refugee Aid), an outreach organisation for the homeless.^[3][4] In 2021 she was appointed Quartiersmanagerin (Neighborhood Manager) for the northern part of Bochum city centre.^[6][7]

Köktürk was a member of The Left in her youth but left due to the far-right views of party leader Sahra Wagenknecht.^[8] She joined the Alliance 90/The Greens in 2020 and was a member of the executive committee of the party's branch in Bochum and the party's state council in North Rhine-Westphalia.^[4] She tried to contest the 2022 North Rhine-Westphalia state election but her candidacy was rejected by the party.^[4][9] She left the party due to disagreements with party policies including some decisions taken by the traffic light coalition.^[10] She rejoined The Left in 2023 after Wagenknecht left the party.^[10][11] She was The Left's candidate in Bochum I (constituency 139) at the 2025 federal election but was not elected.^[12][13] She was however elected to the Bundestag on The Left's state list in North Rhine-Westphalia.^[14]

Köktürk is the author of Unsozialstaat Deutschland (Unwelfare State Germany) (Quadriga 2023 ISBN 9783869951287).^[3]