Aziz Bozkurt, chair of the SPD’s Integration and Diversity Working Group, has stepped down from his position and written a strongly critical letter to group members, a story reported by “Der Spiegel”. In his letter he explains that he will not stand again for the chairmanship at the federal conference in late June. He describes the decision as the result of a long inner struggle rather than a spur‑of‑the‑moment choice. Bozkurt is also a state secretary in Berlin’s Senate for Work and Social Affairs.
He characterises current party‑board meetings as excessively lethargic, leading to “great frustration and irritation” when participants leave. While he acknowledges that there are wise actors willing to change things, he argues that the rigid, government‑oriented perspective and the gratuitous flexibility in policy discussions create a “corset that currently saps the SPD of its breath”. He is particularly critical of the party’s migration policy in the coalition government, noting that the SPD’s strong positionants at party congresses are not reflected in the coalition agreement or in government policy; instead, the party is essentially handing the entire field to Interior Minister Dobrindt.
Bozkurt also condemns the European asylum reform (GEAS). He says the proposal allows for the imprisonment of children, undermines legal representation, and can deprive people of their liberty simply based on their prospects for staying. He asserts that human rights are “left on the back burner”. His disappointment was intensified by the fact that only one SPD member voted against and two abstained when the reform was debated in the Bundestag, while the Union’s “pension rebels” were bolder in their opposition.
He admits that specialist MPs from the SPD parliamentary group helped avert even worse outcomes during negotiations with the Union, yet he feels the top leadership and the parliamentary group are willing to treat migration policy as a bargaining chip. “We effectively renounce our shape‑up rights and hand over the political definition of how migration is discussed and regulated to others” he writes, calling this a leadership problem.
In his letter Bozkurt does not name individuals. Meanwhile, SPD Secretary General Tim Klüssendorf publicly praised him for his “fresh and creative style”. Bozkurt also lauded former chairs Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter‑Börjans for breaking “the logic of the content‑less personal game and ideological arbitrary political simulation”. He concludes that, unfortunately, this impulse has not been sustainably embedded in the party’s future direction.