{{Short description|Swedish politician (born 1967)}} {{Infobox person | name = <!-- use common name/article title --> | image = NALIN PEKGUL 2.jpg | alt = <!-- see WP:ALT --> | caption = Pekgul in 2007 | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1967|4|30}} | birth_place = Batman, Turkey | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Politician | years_active = 1994–present | known_for = Former member of the Swedish parliament | notable_works = | spouse = Cheko Pekgul }}
'''Nalin Pekgul''' (née '''Baksi''', born 30 April 1967) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician, nurse and former parliamentarian. She was the first Muslim woman to sit in the Swedish Parliament.
== Life == Pekgul was born to Kurdish parents in Batman, Turkey, but migrated to Sweden with her family in 1980 when she was 13. She is the sister of the Kurdish nationalist and anti-racism activist Kurdo Baksi and niece of the author Mahmud Baksi. Pekgul trained as a nurse, a profession in which she worked both before and after her election as a politician.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=Jesse |title=Nalin Pekgul |date=13 July 2012 |isbn=978-5512346129 |pages=34 |publisher=Book on Demand |language=English}}</ref>
== Political activities == In 1982, Pekgul joined the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League in Tensta, a suburb of Stockholm.
Between 1994 and 2002, Pekgul was a member of the Swedish parliament. She was chairwoman of Social Democratic Women in Sweden ({{langx|sv|Sveriges socialdemokratiska kvinnoförbund}}) 2003–2011.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dagenssamhalle.se/nyhet/jag-utmanar-starka-krafter-11659|title="Jag utmanar starka krafter"|website=www.dagenssamhalle.se|language=sv-SE|access-date=2017-04-02}}</ref> Aftonbladet noted that Pekgul was the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Swedish parliament.<ref name=":1" />
Pekgul has supported a progressive form of Islam and ideas of Islamic feminism.<ref name=":0" /> She supports the Swedish monarchy and has argued that the Social Democrats should remove calls for a republic from their party programme.<ref>{{Citation|last=SvenskPolitik1|title=Ekots lördagsintervju 2006 - Nalin Pekgul (S)|date=2013-07-31|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px869meAocg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/px869meAocg |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|access-date=2019-03-25}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
After an absence from Swedish politics of seven years, Pekgul announced in 2018 that she would make a political comeback to campaign against religious extremism and honour culture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metro.se/artikel/nalin-pekgul-g%C3%B6r-politisk-comeback-ska-bek%C3%A4mpa-extremism|title=Nalin Pekgul gör politisk comeback – ska bekämpa extremism|last=Joelsson|first=Filip|website=Metro|language=sv|access-date=2019-03-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325180001/https://www.metro.se/artikel/nalin-pekgul-g%C3%B6r-politisk-comeback-ska-bek%C3%A4mpa-extremism|archive-date=2019-03-25|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="varldenidag.se">{{Cite web|url=https://www.varldenidag.se/nyheter/avgaende-s-profilen-tog-kamp-mot-extremism/repscd!HB3K9akGDGhdPkAdmj02kw/|title=Avgående S-profilen tog kamp mot extremism|website=varldenidag.se|language=sv|access-date=2019-03-28}}</ref> She campaigned in Gothenburg with Ann-Sofie Hermansson, chairman of the municipal council. She told Aftonbladet that it is the fight against the Sweden Democrats that engages her.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/a/zL1kgw|title=Nalin Pekgul gör politisk comeback|website=Aftonbladet|date=27 June 2018 |language=sv|access-date=2019-03-28}}</ref> The Social Democrats have been criticised for not raising issues of honour violence for fear of losing votes.<ref name="varldenidag.se"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pekgul, Nalin}} Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:People from Batman, Turkey Category:Swedish politicians of Kurdish descent Category:21st-century Swedish politicians Category:21st-century Swedish women politicians Category:Swedish Muslims Category:Members of the Riksdag from the Social Democrats Category:Kurdish women in politics Category:21st-century Kurdish politicians Category:21st-century Kurdish women