Organized Crime and Politics: Uninvited Guests

T he photo raises questions. It shows the Berlin CDU politician Kai Wegner shortly after his victory in the House of Representatives elections in February 2023 in a barbecue restaurant in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Next to him: Mehmet Kaplankıran, a mafia boss who has been convicted and convicted several times. “Why are you sitting with this criminal, Mr. Wegner?” asked the Bild newspaper in April 2023 – a week before Wegner was elected Governing Mayor of Berlin.

Mehmet Kaplankıran, known in Berlin as “Kürt Mehmet” or “Kurd Mehmet”, was one of the most famous figures of the Berlin underworld and demimonde. He is said to have acted as a kind of “godfather” in the background to settle disputes, to have owned several arcades in Berlin and to have been a sponsor of several sports teams. In January 2026 he died at the age of 62 as a result of serious cancer. Between 1,000 and 2,000 people came to his funeral. The Berlin police accompanied the funeral service with a large-scale operation and spoke of an “organized crime show,” in which leading members of well-known large Arab families were said to have been on site.

But back to his photo with Kai Wegner three years earlier: The Berlin CDU faction's traditional breaking of the fast was said to have taken place on that day, the Berlin CDU explained when asked and emphasized: "Mr. Wegner was not involved in the organization of this event," but rather "went from table to table" there - that's where the photo with the Berlin mafia boss was taken. “He was not invited and was not on any guest list,” said the CDU about the Berlin mafia boss. The encounter didn't make much of a splash in the media at the time.

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Ever since Issa Remmo, the head of an extended Berlin family of Kurdish-Arab origin known as the “Remmo clan,” showed up unexpectedly at the Left's election party in Berlin-Neukölln, the topic has been making headlines and raising the question: What does the Left have in common with him? The fact that his son Firas Remmo published a chat history on Instagram that same night in which he exchanged ideas with the left-wing MP Ferat Koçak and who addressed him as “brother” further fueled the outrage.

Mafia bosses and other major criminals always seek proximity to politicians and celebrities in the hope of gaining social recognition and influence. They want to appear as normal businessmen by focusing on legitimate businesses, preferably in real estate, in order to stay out of the sights of the security authorities. They hope that politicians will help them. In return they have something to offer: money, in the form of party donations. Or support in the election campaign - for example by promising to mobilize their supporters for a politician.

Even though 58-year-old Issa Remmo himself has never been convicted, his family is associated with serious crimes. Two of his nephews were sentenced to several years in prison in 2020 for stealing a gold coin worth millions from Berlin's Bode Museum, and five more of his nephews were sentenced to several years in prison in 2023 for breaking into the "Green Vault" in Dresden. In addition, there are acts of violence and other crimes.

Issa Remmo's son Firas is also not a blank slate: in January 2026, he and three other members of his family are said to have been caught by the police trying to break into an ATM during a power outage in southwest Berlin. According to the Berliner Morgenpost, the proceedings were discontinued; he was convicted of other crimes as a teenager. The 30-year-old is very active on Instagram: In the past, he sometimes posted selfies with a SEK officer and sometimes with Michael Müller, Berlin's former SPD mayor, leaving both of them in need of explanation.

In January 2025, he also posted photos of his father happily strolling through the Berlin House of Representatives, embarrassing Berlin CDU politician Christian Zander. He had Issa Remmo as a guest as part of a group of visitors. “If I had known that a member of the Remmo clan was taking part, I would have disinvited this group,” Zander defended himself at the time.

Now everyone is wondering: What prompted Issa Remmo to go to the left-wing parties in Neukölln and Kreuzberg on election evening? Was he simply happy about Elif Eralp's election success and was he therefore looking for proximity to the possible next governing party? And what drove his son to publicly embarrass Ferat Koçak with an Instagram post the next day? Did the son want revenge for his father being turned away from the election ceremony? Did both of them intentionally want to harm the left? Or did they want to send a message - and if so, what?

In any case, the Left immediately distanced itself from the uninvited guest. And Ferat Koçak apologized for having exchanged ideas with his son, withdrew from public life and temporarily resigned from his work on the Interior Committee. Now the Left must clarify whether there are any further transgressions – a dubious party donation, for example, or further contacts.

Confidential exchanges on social media are more important than snapshots with underworld figures. So far, there is no evidence that the connection between Ferat Koçak and Remmo's son goes beyond the well-known lines in a social media chat. And the Left party leadership is still behind him. Nevertheless, the political pressure on him is so great that Ferat Koçak could stumble. He could become a pawn in the coalition poker between the Berlin SPD, the Greens and the Left.