A non-white political leader in Europe? Shocking and now true.
He has been described as "Germany's Obama", and as he campaigned to become the country's first ethnic Turk to be elected leader of a major political party, Cem Ozdemir's supporters coined the slogan "Yes We Cem!"NOTE FROM JOHN: Ozdemir was at a conference I attended in Greece this past summer. This is great news.
Whether the Obama factor helped or not, the son of a Turkish immigrant – who describes himself as a secular Muslim not averse to the odd glass of vodka – won the leadership of the country's Green Party this month, shattering a racial barrier that had held sway in post-war Germany for decades.
As Green Party leader, the last thing Mr Ozdemir, 42, appears to want to do is campaign on behalf of Germany's still disadvantaged Turks. Instead he wants to help them via osmosis. "I hope that people will notice my name and realise that someone with an ethnic Turkish background can also play a role in politics," he says.
His parents arrived in Germany's southern state of Baden-Württemberg in the early 1960s as "Gastarbeiter" or guest workers. They came at the invitation of the German government in search of well-paid jobs and although they intended to return to Turkey, like millions of others, they stayed.
Germany's 2.7 million Turks are the country's biggest ethnic minority. But decades of policy has kept many in the ghetto. Less than a quarter have German passports, and therefore, a vote.
