Tunahan Kuzu (born 5 June 1981) is a Dutch politician of Turkish descent who served as an MP from 20 September 2012 until 5 December 2023. Initially he was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA) and on 13 November 2014 Kuzu and Selçuk Öztürk left the Labour Party and formed the Group Kuzu/Öztürk, later renamed Denk ("Think").Two Turkish deputies expelled from Dutch labor party ; Today's Zaman; 14 November 2014 On 18 November 2014, he became Parliamentary group leader. In the 2017 Dutch general election, the party secured three seats in the House of Representatives. He was succeeded as party leader by Farid Azarkan in 2020.
Early life Kuzu grew up in Maassluis and studied public administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He worked as a health care advisor for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and was also a member of the municipal council of Rotterdam from 2008 to 2012.
Controversies
Relations with Israel Kuzu attracted international attention in September 2016 when he refused to shake the hand of Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu before a meeting at the States General of the Netherlands. In a statement posted to Facebook Kuzu explained his action as a protest against human rights abuses committed against Palestinian civilians in the Palestinian territories.
In May 2019, during a visit to Jerusalem to learn about the situation of the Palestinians in Israel, Kuzu was held up on the Temple Mount while carrying a Palestinian flag. According to Farid Azarkan, Kuzu was "taken by a large group of heavily armed soldiers". Kuzu was not arrested, however, he was stopped and released after an hour.
Electoral history + A (possibly incomplete) overview of Dutch elections Kuzu participated inElectionPartyCandidate numberVotes2010 Dutch municipal elections in RotterdamLabour Party101.6972012 Dutch general electionLabour Party 2723.0672014 Dutch municipal elections in RotterdamLabour Party294182017 Dutch general electionDenk1129.0252018 Dutch municipal elections in RotterdamDenk202019 Dutch provincial elections in North HollandDenk242.8812019 Dutch provincial elections in South HollandDenk509.7892019 European Parliament election in the NetherlandsDenk1420.3502021 Dutch general electionDenk270.3742022 Dutch special municipal elections in AmsterdamDenk151.9732022 Dutch municipal elections in RotterdamDenk17
References Parlement.com biography