Three German-Turkish politicians have been elected to the European Parliament, according to the preliminary election results.
Social Democrat İsmail Ertuğ has managed to win a third term as a member of the European Parliament, despite his party's poor performance in the elections.
Engin Eroğlu, a prominent figure of the Free Voters, clinched one of the two seats won by the liberal-conservative movement in the European Parliament.
The Socialist Left Party's lead candidate Özlem Alev Demirel, a Turkey-born politician, was also elected as an MEP.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative-left coalition government suffered huge losses in Sunday's elections, while the environmentalist Green Party's votes hit a record high. According to the preliminary results, Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) bloc won 29 of Germany's 96 seats at the European Parliament. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), after its worst showing in European elections, could only win 16 seats.
The pro-European Green Party secured 21 seats at the parliament, up from 11 seats it had in the previous term. The opposition Left Party won five seats, while the far-right AfD secured 11.
In the Greek Cyprus, Niyazi Kızılyürek has become the first Cypriot politician of Turkish descent to win a seat in the European Parliament. Nominated by the main opposition, the Cypriot Greek Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL), Kızılyürek is an award-winning academic and author. He has received many honors for his studies on the Turkish-Greek friendship.
Meanwhile, In the Netherlands, DENK Party candidate Ayhan Tonca and Germany's Left Party candidate Murat Yılmaz could not be elected in the European Parliament elections.The elections created disappointment among Turks in Belgium as well, as no candidate of Turkish descent managed to enter into the parliament while far-right parties and ideologies were the winners of the elections in the country.
