Germany’s new agriculture minister visits presidential palace on bike

BERLIN

Cem Özdemir, Germany’s new food and agriculture minister of Turkish origin, visited the presidential palace to receive his certificate of appointment on a bicycle, while other ministers arrived in black cars.

Özdemir, from the Green Party, is the first Turkish descent politician to assume a federal minister post.

Following the ceremony at the Bellevue Palace, Özdemir left the premises once again on his bicycle with his helmet on.

Earlier this week, the German parliament elected Olaf Scholz as chancellor to lead the first national “traffic light” coalition with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, nicknamed after the parties’ colors.

Meanwhile, Cansel Kızıltepe from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has been appointed as the state secretary in the Building and Housing Ministry, while Mahmut Özdemir has become a state secretary in the Federal Interior Ministry. Also, another Turkish origin politician from the Greens, Ekin Deligöz, has been appointed as the state secretary in the Family Ministry.

In the last elections in Germany, 18 lawmakers of Turkish descent won seats in Germany’s Bundestag.