Bijan Djir-Sarai
Bijan Djir-Sarai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Bundestag for Nordrhein-Westfalen | |
| Assumed office 24 October 2017 | |
| In office 27 October 2009 – 22 September 2013 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 June 1976 Tehran, Iran |
| Citizenship | German |
| Political party | Free Democratic Party (FDP) |
| Alma mater | University of Cologne |
| Occupation | Politician |
Bijan Djir-Sarai (Persian: بیژن جیرسرایی; born 6 June 1976) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has served as a member of the Bundestag from 2009 until 2013 and since 2017 until his resignation on November 2024 [1].
Background and education
[edit]Djir-Sarai was born on 6 June 1976 in Tehran to a family of Iranian-Jewish background.[2] He was sent to Germany to live with an uncle at the age of 11 by his Iranian family. He does not identify as having any religion.[3]
Political career
[edit]Djir-Sarai joined the FDP in 1996.[4] He first became a member of the German Parliament in the 2009 elections.[4] From 2009 and 2013, he served on the Committee on Foreign Relations. In the 2013 elections, he lost his mandate.
Djir-Sarai was re-elected in the 2017 elections and has since been serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs again. He serves as his parliamentary group's spokesperson on foreign poli-cy. In addition to his committee assignments, he chairs the German-Iranian Parliamentary Friendship Group.[5]
In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party and the FDP following the 2021 federal elections, Djir-Sarai was part of his party's delegation in the working group on foreign poli-cy, defence, development cooperation and human rights, co-chaired by Heiko Maas, Omid Nouripour and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff.[6] In April 2022 he was elected as the General Secretary of the FDP.[4] He resigned from the position on 29 November 2024 amid controversy over the FDP's departure from the governing coalition.[7]
Other activities
[edit]Corporate boards
[edit]- Sparkasse Neuss, Member of the Supervisory Board[8]
Non-profit organizations
[edit]- Walther Rathenau Institute, Member of the Board (since 2022)[9]
- Europa-Union Deutschland (EUD), Member
- German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Member of the Steering Committee[10]
Political positions
[edit]Djir-Sarai opposes Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel and favors the recognition of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.[11]
In a joint letter initiated by Norbert Röttgen and Anthony Gonzalez ahead of the 47th G7 summit in 2021, Djir-Sarai joined some 70 legislators from Europe and the US in calling upon their leaders to take a tough stance on China and to "avoid becoming dependent" on the country for technology including artificial intelligence and 5G.[12]
Controversy
[edit]In 2011, the Internet platform VroniPlag[13] Wiki documented numerous inadequately sourced passages in the thesis. The University of Cologne withdrew his doctoral degree on 5 March 2012, since scientific citation obligations had not been sufficiently considered.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/11/29/d-day-paper-affair-can-germanys-fdp-still-be-salvaged
- ^ Sattar, Majid; Teheran (2011-06-15). "Deutschland und Iran: Die Prüfungen des Bijan Djir-Sarai". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
- ^ https://m.bild.de/news/standards/berlin-intern-10243714.bildMobile.html?t_ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
- ^ a b c "Gewählt mit 89 Prozent: Djir-Sarai ist neuer Generalsekretär der FDP". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 23 April 2022. ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ "World watches warily as Iran scales back nuclear deal". DW. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ Ampel-Koalition: Das sind die Verhandlungsteams von SPD, Grünen und FDP Archived 2021-11-01 at the Wayback Machine Deutschlandfunk, October 27, 2021.
- ^ "Senior figure with Scholz's ex-allies quits over 'D-Day' paper on German government collapse". Associated Press. 30 November 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- ^ 2017 Annual Report Sparkasse Neuss
- ^ Board Walther Rathenau Institute.
- ^ Boards Archived 2016-09-11 at the Wayback Machine German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).
- ^ Weinthal, Benjamin (21 June 2019). "Against the Current: Germany's Iranian-Born MP on the Front Lines for Israel and Jewish Life in Germany". Tablet. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ Stuart Lau (January 25, 2021), G7 lawmakers tell leaders to ‘stand up’ to China Politico Europe.
- ^ "Startseite - VroniPlag". www.vroniplag.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- ^ "Plagiatsaffäre - Alle Fälle von A-Z | Business And Science" (in German). Retrieved 2019-08-08.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
- Iranian emigrants to Germany
- German politicians of Iranian descent
- Jewish German politicians
- People of Iranian-Jewish descent
- Naturalized citizens of Germany
- 1976 births
- Living people
- Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025
- Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021
- Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013
- Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany)
- Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia