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Swedish politician (born 1967) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nalin Pekgul (née Baksi, born 30 April 1967) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician, nurse and former parliamentarian. She was the first Muslim woman to sit in the Swedish Parliament.
Nalin Pekgul | |
---|---|
Born | Batman, Turkey | 30 April 1967
Nationality | Turkish, Swedish |
Occupation | Politician |
Years active | 1994–present |
Known for | Former member of the Swedish parliament |
Spouse | Cheko Pekgul |
Pekgul was born in Batman, Turkey, but migrated to Sweden with her family in 1980 when she was 13. She is the sister of the Kurdish nationalist and anti-racism activist Kurdo Baksi and niece of the author Mahmut Baksi. Pekgul trained as a nurse, a profession in which she worked both before and after her election as a politician.[1]
In 1982, Pekgul joined the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League in Tensta, a suburb of Stockholm.
Between 1994 and 2002, Pekgul was a member of the Swedish parliament. She was chairwoman of Social Democratic Women in Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges socialdemokratiska kvinnoförbund) 2003–2011.[2] Aftonbladet noted that Pekgul was the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Swedish parliament.[3]
Pekgul has supported a progressive form of Islam and ideas of Islamic feminism.[2] She supports the Swedish monarchy and has argued that the Social Democrats should remove calls for a republic from their party programme.[4]
After an absence from Swedish politics of seven years, Pekgul announced in 2018 that she would make a political comeback to campaign against religious extremism and honour culture.[5][6] She campaigned in Gothenburg with Ann-Sofie Hermansson, chairman of the municipal council. She told Aftonbladet that it is the fight against the Sweden Democrats that engages her.[3] The Social Democrats have been criticised for not raising issues of honour violence for fear of losing votes.[6]
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