Dilek Kalayci (; ; Demirel, formerly Kolat, born 7 February 1967) is a Turkish-German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as State Minister for Health, Care and Equality (2016–2021) and as Deputy Governing Mayor of Berlin and State Minister for Labour, Integration and Women (2014–2016) in the government of Mayor Michael Müller.
Early life and education Kalayci has lived in Germany since she was three years old.
Kalayci studied Mathematical economics at Technische Universität Berlin, after that she worked at the Deutsche Kreditbank.
Political career From 1995 until 1999, Kalayci was a member of the borough council of Schöneberg and the deputy leader of the SPD group in the council.
In the 2001 state elections, Kalayci won the Tempelhof-Schöneberg 3 constituency with 39.6% of the vote. She was able to defend her constituency in all subsequent elections. Between 2006 and 2011, Kalayci was the deputy leader of the SPD group in the Berlin Abgeordenetenhaus.
In November 2011 Berlin's Governing Mayor, Klaus Wowereit appointed Kalayci State Minister for Labour, Integration and Women, a post she held until 2016. After Wowereit's resignation in 2014 and Michael Müller's election as Governing Mayor she succeeded him as Deputy Governing Mayor in December 2014.
After the 2016 state elections, Kalayci became State Minister for Health, Care and Equality in December 2016, she was not reappointed as Deputy Governing Mayor, being succeeded by the Green Party politician Ramona Pop.
As one of the state’s representatives at the Bundesrat from 2011 until 2021, Kalayci was a member of the Committee on Health. She was also a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up by the Bundesrat and the Russian Federation Council.
Other activities
Corruption In 2025 she was sentenced to one and a half years for accepting free services from a company for her own wedding in exchange for awarding that same company a contract from her office.https://themunicheye.com/former-berlin-senator-kalayci-corruption-sentenced-15715 Kalayci appealed the decision, but the Federal Court of Justice confirmed it in December 2025."Urteil gegen Ex-Senatorin Kalayci rechtskräftig" ,rbb24.de, 31 December 2026, retrieved 31 December 2026 Based on the conviction, Berlin initiated steps to deny Dilek Kalayci further State Minister pension payments in early 2026."Erforderliche Schritte eingeleitet“: Verurteilte Berliner Ex-Senatorin Kalayci dürfte bald Pension verlieren", Tagesspiegel, 2 February 2026, retrieved 3 February 2026
Corporate boards Berliner Sparkasse, Member of the Advisory Board Vivantes, Ex-Officio Member of the Supervisory Board (2016–2021)Supervisory Board Vivantes.
Non-profit organizations Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin, Member of the Board of TrusteesBoard of Trustees Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin. German-Israeli Association (DIG), Member Kaiserin Friedrich-Stiftung für das ärztliche Fortbildungswesen, member of the board of trusteesBoard of Trustees Kaiserin Friedrich-Stiftung für das ärztliche Fortbildungswesen. German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), member Checkpoint Charlie Museum, Member of the Board of TrusteesGrüne: Schluss mit den vielen Nebenjobs B.Z., July 13, 2012.
Personal life Kalayci lives in Berlin's Lichterfelde district.Hildburg Bruns (July 28, 2017), Nach 28 Jahren: Liebes-Aus bei Senatorin Dilek Kolat und ihrem Mann B.Z.. From 1989 until 2017 she was married to Kenan Kolat, and in 2019 she married Hivzi Kalayci.
References