Serap Güler
Serap Güler (born 7 July 1980) is a German politician of Turkish origin from the Christian Democratic Union. She has been a Member of the German Bundestag since 2021, representing the Leverkusen – Cologne IV district. Early life and career. Güler grew up as the child of Turkish guest workers in Germany. After training as a hotel manager, she graduated in communication studies and German studies from University of Duisburg-Essen. Upon graduation, Güler worked as advisor to State Minister for Generations, Family, Women and Integration Armin Laschet and State Minister of Health Barbara Steffen. Political career. Güler was  elected to the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia in the 2012 North Rhine-Westphalia state election; at the time, she was her parliamentary group’s first member of Turkish origin. From 2012 until 2017, she served as her parliamentary group’s spokesperson on integration. In 2015, Güler was part of a CDU working group on a reform of Germany’s legislation on immigration, chaired by Armin Laschet. Together with Thomas Strobl, Peter Hintze, Michael Kretschmer, David McAllister, Christina Schwarzer and Annette Widmann-Mauz, she co-chaired the CDU’s 2015 national convention in Karlsruhe. Following the 2017 state elections, Güler  was appointed State Secretary of Integration at the State Ministry for Children, Families, Refugees, and Integration, in the cabinet of Minister-President Armin Laschet. In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, she was part of the working group on migration policy, led by Volker Bouffier, Joachim Herrmann and Ralf Stegner. Member of the German Parliament, 2021–present. In the 2021 German federal election, Güler contested Leverkusen – Cologne IV but came second to Karl Lauterbach. She was elected to the Bundestag on the state list. She has since been serving  on the Defence Committee. Since 2022, Güler has been serving as deputy chair – alongside Mario Voigt – of working group in charge of drafting the CDU’s new party platform, under the leadership of Carsten Linnemann. Political positions. Güler is a part of the social wing of the CDU, and is a member of the Christian Democratic Employees' Association. As a practising Muslim, Güler opposes abortion. She opposes children being forced to wear hijab. Güler is a critic of President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.