Mujer, de izquierdas y con padres turcos: la inesperada irrupción de Elif Eralp como favorita para gobernar Berlín

In a surprising turn of events, Elif Eralp, a left-leaning woman with Turkish parents, is now considered the frontrunner to lead Berlin's government after the upcoming elections on September 20th. Two years ago, it would have been met with skepticism if someone had predicted that Die Linke, the left-wing party, would have a serious chance of heading the German capital's government, let alone with a woman of Turkish descent. However, politics can take unexpected turns.

While the governing party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), currently leads the polls with a slight edge over Die Linke, recent surveys indicate that the latter is closing the gap and has an equal chance of winning the support of Berliners. This places Elif Eralp, the party's candidate, in a strong position to become Berlin's next mayor if the elections go as expected.

Despite being slightly behind the other parties, the right-wing CDU, Elif Eralp aims to either form an absolute majority government or a complex coalition with other parties. Die Linke is even considering a left-wing alliance with the Greens and the Social Democrats (SPD). The latter are expected to hold the key to the executive branch.

Eralp, a 45-year-old jurist, has been steadily rising in popularity due to several factors that are not necessarily related to her personally but rather to her profile, which aligns with the renewed energy Die Linke has shown on the German political stage over the past two years. Eralp explains, "I come from a refugee family and have fought against injustice since I was a child. I witnessed how families like ours were treated differently. That's why I studied law to defend equality for all."

Eralp, known for her calm and gentle demeanor, identifies as a mother of two children who attend public school, someone living in a simple rented apartment, and a member of a diverse and plural community in her Berlin neighborhood, Kreuzberg. "It may seem rough, but here, there is a wonderful community of genuine people who support each other, and that cannot be bought," she says.

Eralp's background reflects many others in Berlin and Germany, who, despite being born here, have had to fight to find a place in society. Born in Turkey in 1980, Eralp and her family fled the country following a military coup that same year, fearing political persecution as socialists and trade unionists. They settled in Munich two years later after receiving asylum, before moving to Dortmund when her father found a job there as a doctor.

Two years after that, they moved to Hamburg, where Eralp grew up and studied law, always focused on human rights.