No sooner had the euphoria of the elections subsided in Berlin than the Left Party found itself facing a political crisis of a different kind. Member of the German Parliament, Firat Koçak, one of the most prominent faces of the party in the Neukölln region, decided to temporarily suspend his parliamentary duties and refrain from public appearances, after the controversy escalated over communications that took place between him and the son of the leader of the Rammo family, which has Arab origins and is well-known in Berlin, a family whose name some of its members have been linked to files related to organized crime.
The Left Party promises "transparency"
The co-chair of the Left Party bloc in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag), Sweren Bellman, announced that Koczak informed the bloc's leadership that he would step back from exercising his parliamentary duties "until further notice" and until full transparency regarding the issue is achieved. According to statements published on Tuesday, Kocak will not participate in the meetings of the Interior Committee of the Bundestag at the present time, and will also refrain from public appearances during the process of reviewing his communications. The final political repercussions will be discussed after clarification of the facts is complete.
The leadership of the Left Party at the federal level expressed its criticism of Koczak's relations with the large "Remo" family in Berlin. “As a party, we have high standards that we expect from our representatives,” said Jannis Ehling, the party’s federal executive director, in response to a query from the German news agency DPA. He added: "The mere impression that there are such ties - as in this case - is harmful to the reputation of our party. Therefore, our deputy Virat Koçak is taking the consequences appropriately. I assume that he will be completely transparent and will do his best to dispel these doubts."
How did the case start?
The case erupted after the appearance of Issa Remo, the leader of the Remo family, at an election celebration for the Left Party in Berlin-Neukölln on Sunday evening. The local party leadership said that the person was not on the list of attendees, that there were no political or personal relationships with him, and that his presence at the party was not known in advance.
But the issue quickly moved from being just a question about a guest at an election party to a crisis related to parliamentarian Koçak personally.
A picture of a conversation between MP Kochak and Firas Ramo, Issa’s eldest son, later spread. According to the published conversation, Kocak returned the greeting to his father with words of respect, and asked Firas to publish a video clip of a speech the MP gave in the Bundestag.
Here, the issue gained a greater political dimension because the video in question relates to Koczak’s position on the German debate on so-called “clan crimes,” and Kochak had criticized in a previous speech within the Bundestag the use of this term because, according to his position, it places entire families under suspicion because of their names and origins.
Kocak apologizes: it was a mistake
Kocak broke his silence and admitted that continuing communication was a mistake. He explained that he communicates weekly with hundreds of people from Neukölln, and that Firas Rammo was among those who contacted him. He said that when he returned the greeting to his father, he did not know, according to his narration, the exact identity of the person he was dealing with, and that the matter became known to him later, according to the Berliner Zeitung.
But at the same time, he admitted that writing to him again later and asking him to publish his letter was a “mistake” and apologized for it. He also stressed that the contacts of political office holders with people attributed to organized crime cannot be justified, and that the mere impression of such closeness requires full clarification.
That is why he announced that he would work, in coordination with his team, to review his method of communication and reveal the circumstances to achieve “full transparency.”
Pressure to the point of demanding his removal
But the apology did not end the political storm. There were many reactions to what happened. The head of the Green Party bloc in the Bundestag, Katarina Droege, went further, practically calling on the Left Party leadership to consider excluding Koczak from the parliamentary bloc. She expressed severe doubts about his explanations regarding his contacts with circles linked to organized crime, and described his account as unconvincing.
The Vice-President of the Green Party bloc, Constantin Fo Nots, also issued strong criticism, considering that a politician who seeks to get close to figures associated with this milieu harms his legitimacy and his political work. Critics also linked the issue to a broader controversy over other people who appeared at the Left Party's election ceremony and to the escalating disputes over the party's handling of the anti-Semitism file and its positions on Israel, as reported by the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper.
In contrast, the Left Party in Berlin rejected general accusations of anti-Semitism. The party's leadership in the state confirmed that the party stands by Jewish life in Berlin, while at the same time adhering to the right to criticize the Israeli government's policy, and its emphasis on rejecting the glorification of terrorism and calls for violence.
Why is the issue politically sensitive?
The sensitivity of the issue is not related to Kochak alone. He is not a marginal deputy within the party, as he was elected a member of the Bundestag in 2025, after having been a deputy in the Berlin state parliament since 2021, and he was able to win directly in the Neukölln district.
According to the Tagesschau website, he thus became the first politician from the Left Party to win a direct electoral district outside the territory of the former East Germany.
The crisis comes immediately after the Berlin elections, and at a moment when the Left Party is trying to capitalize on its electoral lead and enter into talks with the Greens and the Social Democratic Party regarding forming a possible coalition in the capital. Therefore, the Koçak case turned from a matter concerning a federal MP into a political test for the entire party leadership.
This explains the pressure exerted by the Green Party. The issue was not only related to the question: What was the nature of the relationship between Koçak and Firas Ramo? But also whether the controversy will affect the political confidence necessary for any upcoming coalition negotiations in Berlin. The leader of the Greens, Katharina Droege, called on the Left Party in Berlin to provide clear clarifications on the background of the case.
Will the transparency paper promised by Koçak succeed in containing the issue, or will additional contacts emerge that will raise the level of pressure and turn the temporary withdrawal into an actual demand for resignation or exclusion from the bloc?
