“Wow!!!” Overwhelmed but pretty cool Belit took Onay that he had been elected on Sunday, nearly to the mayor of Hannover. The 38-year-old Schlaks with the five day beard and the soft voice thanked the voters, a little later, he presented to the magnificent staircase of the Wilhelmine town hall, together with his brilliant wife, Derya already the photographer.

This Onays choice was in many respects a first. For the first Time in 73 years, not a social Democrat, but a Green reigns in the lower Saxony capital Hannover, with its 550’000 inhabitants, in the future – some see it as a turning point far beyond the once-deep-red Hanover. Also, for the first time a Green conquered a city in the North of Germany. So far, the party had only been in the southwest, in Freiburg (until 2018), in Stuttgart and Darmstadt. There are many Green politicize but considerably more conservative than in the North.

In the case of direct election at a disadvantage

Finally, Onay is the first mayor of Germany, whose family comes from Turkey. With Ashok-Alexander Sridharan, a Indian-born politicians of Bonn ruled, and in Rostock, the Dane Claus resting Madsen was even elected a foreigner to the mayor. But a German Turk had not brought it yet so far.

This is all the more surprising, as in Germany, there are now a variety of well-known of Turkish origin politicians, not only the former Greens leader and “Anatolian Swabian” Cem Özdemir. But in the case of direct elections, a Turkish Name seemed to be still a disadvantage. Onay has now proven in a duel against the non-party former VW-Manager Eckhard Scholz, who competed for the CDU, that this old rule is losing its importance.

Onay describes herself as a liberal Muslim. His wife, a successful lawyer, who had studied in Paris and London, has also Turkish roots. With his small son, he speaks Turkish: “This is an enrichment.” But otherwise, the turquoise is most in him may be his Name. His parents emigrated in the 70s from Istanbul to Germany, the small Belit was born in 1981 in Goslar, Germany, and grew up there. The model of the later SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel, who lives in Goslar, brought the students to the SPD. The Green met with the lawyer after his studies.

He wants to was looking for a car-free city centre

As Hanover, after a scandal involving the incumbent, whose resignation at once a new mayor, seized Onay the Chance. The Green actually had a woman up, but the Rapid no high-profile candidate to be found.

Onay scored in the election campaign, especially with the requirement to make the town centre up to 2030, car-free and Cycling routes and public transport to build – in an Autoland, such as lower Saxony is not politically safe endeavor. But he captured the Zeitgeist and the mood of the sound to the left-the green city is apparently pretty good.

Created: 11.11.2019, 17:07 PM

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