Elif Eralp, a candidate of Turkish origin, won an election in Berlin, according to Hürriyet, which described the outcome as historic. NTV Haber reported that the result moved her mother to tears. The vote was held in the German capital, with results reported on Monday, 21 September 2026.
The Berlin contest took place alongside elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a state in northeastern Germany. Anadolu Ajansı framed the two votes as a sign of shifting political balances in the country.
Separately, Haber 7 reported that Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacted to the results with a statement about Jewish people, saying he would do everything and calling the situation shameful. The same outlet described the outcome as a win for the Turkish candidate. Medyascope reported that Merz is not stepping down from his post despite results it called a disaster.
The reporting available does not give vote shares, turnout figures or the specific office Eralp won, so those details remain unclear from the material published so far. What the outlets do agree on is that the Berlin result drew attention beyond the city, and that Merz's response became a story in itself.
Coverage of the German elections is continuing, and further details on the Berlin result and the chancellor's next steps are expected to emerge in the coming days.