Tweet
NIS News Bulletin, Netherlands
March 2 2007
Albayrak In Tricky Position As Immigration State Secretary
THE HAGUE, 03/03/07 - Nebahat Albayrak knows no better than that she
has always lived in the Netherlands. She speaks with a Rotterdam
accent, but is also proud of her Turkish passport. She rejects doubts
about her loyalty to the Netherlands as nonsense, but still, Labour
(PvdA) took a risk in putting her forward as Justice State Secretary.
Albayrak was born on 10 April 1968 in Sivas, Turkey. As a two year
old, she landed up in Rotterdam, where her father had already gone
before she was born to work in construction. She has always lived in
the port city and speaks with a slight Rotterdam accent, but she
still always maintained links with the Turkish community.
Before becoming an MP, Albayrak was on the board of the National
Islamic Women's Organisation (LIV), from 1996 to 1998. During her
parliamentary membership, she chaired TRAFIK, a foundation to
encourage cultural exchange between the Netherlands and Turkey. She
also advised the Anne Fund, which encourages Turkish girls in poor
districts to go into secondary vocational education.
After secondary school, Albayrak joined the staff of the National
Bureau for Combating Racism (LBR), in 1990. She simultaneously
studied international and European law at the University of Leiden
and the Turkish capital of Ankara, to 1991. In the two subsequent
years, she studied at l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris, which
she combined with a one-year course at l'Institut d'Etudes
Francaises, again in Ankara. There she also had a traineeship at the
economic department of the European Commission office.
In 1993, Albayrak began her administrative career as policy staff
member for International and European Affairs at the bureau of the
Secretary-General of the foreign ministry. In August 1995, she moved
to the Integration Policy for Minorities Coordination directorate at
the same ministry. From this post, she landed up in the Lower House
for PvdA in May 1998.
In 2002, Albayrak was elected by the PvdA MPs to chair their foreign
policy cluster. In March 2003, she became chairman of the Lower House
standing committee for defence. In 2005, she could have left the
House to become PvdA front-runner in Rotterdam in the local
elections, but she rejected this offer.
In 2006, Albayrak was put second on the PvdA list of candidates in
the general election. It looked as though she might have to withdraw
because she did not speak out unequivocally on the Armenian genocide
by Turkey around 1915. Two PvdA candidate MPs did have to withdraw,
but the press let the matter rest after Albayrak said in Trouw
newspaper that "it is for lawyers and historians to decide" whether
the event "meets precisely the definition of genocide in
international law."
Albayrak cannot easily recognise the genocide, if she would wish to,
because this is forbidden in Turkey. She has both a Dutch and Turkish
passport. For these reasons, she could wind up with a conflict of
loyalties, declares the Party for Freedom (PVV). Lower House Speaker
Gerdi Verbeet, a fellow-party member of Albayrak's, found this view
unconstitutional. But although a House majority criticised the
Speaker about this, nobody agreed with the PVV.
Nonetheless, it is not unthinkable that Albayrak's loyalty will be
questioned again in the coming years. As Justice State Secretary, she
is after all responsible for aliens policy. Within this, marriage
immigration of Turks is a not unimportant component. Albayrak herself
is unmarried and childless.
http://www.nisnews.nl/public/030307_1.htm
March 2 2007
Albayrak In Tricky Position As Immigration State Secretary
THE HAGUE, 03/03/07 - Nebahat Albayrak knows no better than that she
has always lived in the Netherlands. She speaks with a Rotterdam
accent, but is also proud of her Turkish passport. She rejects doubts
about her loyalty to the Netherlands as nonsense, but still, Labour
(PvdA) took a risk in putting her forward as Justice State Secretary.
Albayrak was born on 10 April 1968 in Sivas, Turkey. As a two year
old, she landed up in Rotterdam, where her father had already gone
before she was born to work in construction. She has always lived in
the port city and speaks with a slight Rotterdam accent, but she
still always maintained links with the Turkish community.
Before becoming an MP, Albayrak was on the board of the National
Islamic Women's Organisation (LIV), from 1996 to 1998. During her
parliamentary membership, she chaired TRAFIK, a foundation to
encourage cultural exchange between the Netherlands and Turkey. She
also advised the Anne Fund, which encourages Turkish girls in poor
districts to go into secondary vocational education.
After secondary school, Albayrak joined the staff of the National
Bureau for Combating Racism (LBR), in 1990. She simultaneously
studied international and European law at the University of Leiden
and the Turkish capital of Ankara, to 1991. In the two subsequent
years, she studied at l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris, which
she combined with a one-year course at l'Institut d'Etudes
Francaises, again in Ankara. There she also had a traineeship at the
economic department of the European Commission office.
In 1993, Albayrak began her administrative career as policy staff
member for International and European Affairs at the bureau of the
Secretary-General of the foreign ministry. In August 1995, she moved
to the Integration Policy for Minorities Coordination directorate at
the same ministry. From this post, she landed up in the Lower House
for PvdA in May 1998.
In 2002, Albayrak was elected by the PvdA MPs to chair their foreign
policy cluster. In March 2003, she became chairman of the Lower House
standing committee for defence. In 2005, she could have left the
House to become PvdA front-runner in Rotterdam in the local
elections, but she rejected this offer.
In 2006, Albayrak was put second on the PvdA list of candidates in
the general election. It looked as though she might have to withdraw
because she did not speak out unequivocally on the Armenian genocide
by Turkey around 1915. Two PvdA candidate MPs did have to withdraw,
but the press let the matter rest after Albayrak said in Trouw
newspaper that "it is for lawyers and historians to decide" whether
the event "meets precisely the definition of genocide in
international law."
Albayrak cannot easily recognise the genocide, if she would wish to,
because this is forbidden in Turkey. She has both a Dutch and Turkish
passport. For these reasons, she could wind up with a conflict of
loyalties, declares the Party for Freedom (PVV). Lower House Speaker
Gerdi Verbeet, a fellow-party member of Albayrak's, found this view
unconstitutional. But although a House majority criticised the
Speaker about this, nobody agreed with the PVV.
Nonetheless, it is not unthinkable that Albayrak's loyalty will be
questioned again in the coming years. As Justice State Secretary, she
is after all responsible for aliens policy. Within this, marriage
immigration of Turks is a not unimportant component. Albayrak herself
is unmarried and childless.
http://www.nisnews.nl/public/030307_1.htm