Aygül Özkan

Aygül Özkan (born 27 August 1971, in Hamburg) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as managing director of the German Property Federation (ZIA) since 2020.

Özkan has been a member of the CDU since 2004. She served as Minister of Social Affairs, Women, Families, Health and Integration in the state of Lower Saxony, in the Second Cabinet Wulff and the Cabinet McAllister between 2010 and 2013. She was the first ever German politician of Turkish descent and a Muslim serving as minister.

Özkan became a German citizen when she was 18 years old. She went on to study law at the University of Hamburg and became an attorney-at-law in 1998.

Career Özkan entered politics when she joined the CDU in 2004, and was appointed State Minister of Social Affairs, Women, Family, Health, and Integration in the state of Lower Saxony. She served in the cabinets of successive Ministers-President Christian Wulff and David McAllister from 27 April 2010 to 19 February 2013.

In a press release, Özkan announced her retirement from politics from 22 July 2014. She took a post as general manager of the DB Credit Service GmbH in Berlin, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, on 1 August 2014. She worked for Deutsche Telekom and the Dutch TNT Express before she entered politics. Haus Rissen, member of the board of trustees Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), member of the Board of Trustees

Personal life Özkan is married to a gynaecologist. She has a son.