Left-wing politician Cansin Köktürk collects 18,000 euros in donations after calling for order

After her heckling in the Bundestag last week, a call for donations from left-wing politician Cansin Köktürk has already raised around 18,000 euros. According to the “GoFundMe” platform, 17,733 euros had been received by Monday afternoon (as of 11:30 a.m.).

Köktürk caused a stir in parliament on Friday when she interrupted AfD MP René Springer's speech with several heckles. Among other things, she accused Springer of “racist shit”. She received two citations from Bundestag Vice President Andrea Lindholz and now - because it is her third citation within three weeks of sitting - has to pay a fine of 2,000 euros.

Shortly afterwards, the left-wing politician called for the fundraising campaign. The 33-year-old writes on "GoFundMe": "I oppose the normalization of racist and misanthropic content of the AfD in the German parliament. Nobody can intimidate me or silence me with capitalist threats of fines."

As a migrant woman, she collects fines because she “stands up against fascism”. Her answer to that is “love”. Therefore, she donates the proceeds to the rescue organization Sea-Watch. “We don’t let people drown in the Mediterranean,” Köktürk continues. In an Instagram story, Köktürk emphasized that the donations were not there to pay the fine: “I would be happy to pay that myself – privately and out of my own pocket.”

In his speech, René Springer spoke about the financing of the pension system and described Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) as having a “backbone like a lurk”. If the AfD sits in government, the party will begin to “clean up the social security systems”. Regarding basic security, formerly citizen's benefit, he said: "We will ensure that it is a social benefit that primarily benefits Germans."

That doesn't mean that the AfD doesn't recognize that foreigners also make their contribution. “Of course, they should also be entitled to basic security benefits if they fall into basic security benefits through no fault of their own,” explained Springer. He is primarily concerned with those who tore up their passports at the border and “ended up in the basic security system”.