Consequences for Koçak: No final line yet

Talking about Ferat Koçak? Only a few people in the Left Party want this publicly today. The MP from Berlin-Neukölln had already said a lot himself in an article in Die Zeit on Wednesday. There he disclosed his chats with a member of the Remmo family. With the article he wants to ensure transparency and admits mistakes. That same evening, Koçak announced on X that he was giving up his seat on the Interior Committee. However, he retains his position as spokesman for anti-fascism and anti-racism.

The debate about Koçak has come to a head since the evening of the election for the Berlin House of Representatives. Issa Remmo showed up uninvited at the Neukölln Left's election party. He is the leader of the Remmo family, whose members were tried for various crimes related to organized crime. Although the left sent Remmo away from the party, his son, Firas Remmo, published chats between him and Koçak. There Koçak writes “Greet with respect back to your father”. Shortly after the election, Koçak announced that he would suspend his parliamentary functions for the time being.

While Koçak is now giving up his seat on the Interior Committee, he retains the position as spokesman for anti-fascism and anti-racism. This was announced by parliamentary group leaders Sören Pellmann and Heidi Reichinnek at the request of the taz. The reason: "The speaker positions are independent of the seat in the committee. Ferat Koçak has been doing important work in the areas of anti-fascism and anti-racism for many years and will continue this work in our group."

Referring to the article in Die Zeit, Pellmann and Reichinnek further announced: “Ferat Koçak disclosed his case to an independent journalist and ensured transparency as announced.” It became clear that “as he assured us from the start, there is no connection to organized crime.” The fact that he is giving up his seat on the Interior Committee is a necessary step “so that the left-wing faction can continue its work there unencumbered by this debate.”

Koçak is the left's first directly elected candidate outside the former GDR. He won the direct mandate in the Neukölln constituency in the 2025 federal election. On

Koçak tells Die Zeit that he swears that he didn't know Firas Remmo at the time and that he no longer has any contact with him. It cannot be verified whether Koçak deleted messages beforehand. He is also criticized not only because of his contacts with the Remmo family, but also because he posted a photo with Ibrahim Ibrahim. He promotes the left-wing terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). He called the killed Hamas leader Jahia Sinwar a “martyred hero” and paid him his “respect.”

Parts of the Left Party had already called for his resignation from the committee the week before. Including the Thuringian left-wing MP Katharina König-Preuss. In a video, she demanded that Koçak resign from his mandate, that he does not represent credible anti-fascism - and that the specialist work should be allowed to slide. Although he has now given up his seat, König-Preuss does not want to talk publicly about Koçak. The reason: She is annoyed that “no one else from the parliamentary group or the party comes forward and says anything.”

This could also be due to a piece of news that the world is reporting on. The party leaders Ines Schwertner and Luigi Pantisano ask the party "not to bring everything up in public, the situation is difficult enough right now, especially for Berlin. So please hold back until he expresses himself."

In the Koçak case, the left now has to prove that it is taking the allegations of anti-Semitism and contacts with organized crime seriously so that it can form a government in Berlin. After the Left's election victory in Berlin, the party voted on Friday for exploratory talks with the Greens and the SPD. But the alliance has many critics - and there are also disagreements among the possible coalition partners. The first official round of talks between the Left, the SPD and the Greens should take place this Thursday.