Serdar Yüksel

Yüksel is the son of a worker of Kurdish descent who immigrated from Turkey to Essen in 1964. His father worked at Krupp and was active in the IG Metall union.^[1] Despite a recommendation after primary school to attend Gymnasium, Yüksel first attended Hauptschule. After completing his Hauptschule in Wattenscheid, he attended the Fachoberschule in Bochum and completed an apprenticeship as a nurse in 1994. He worked as an intensive care nurse until 2010. He joined the Social Democratic Party at 15 years old, in 1989.^[2]

He is a follower of Alevism.^[3]