Berlin Left mayoral hopeful Elif Eralp faces domestic intelligence probe over Kurdish links

Elif Eralp, the leading candidate of the Berlin Left party slated to become governing mayor with support from the Greens and SPD, is now under the watch of the Verfassungsschutz. Agency chief Sinan Selen urged lawmakers to scrutinise "certain local relationships," hinting at possible links to extremist or terrorist groups. Eralp’s August meeting with a Kurdish delegation, which featured members of NAV Berlin—deemed by security services as a PKK front—has drawn particular attention.

The PKK remains Germany’s largest foreign-related extremist organization, and displaying its symbols is illegal. Eralp’s earlier affiliation with the Red Aid, identified as the biggest left-extremist group and recently linked to fundraising for RAF terrorist Daniela Klette, further complicates her profile. She has pledged to abolish the Berlin Verfassungsschutz should she assume the mayoralty. The case also references fellow Left MP Ferat Koçak’s opposition to a PKK ban and his alleged ties to the Remmo clan, a criminal network implicated in high-profile burglaries.