Die Linke’s Ferat Koçak: We Can’t Surrender to the Far Right

Two years ago, Germany’s Die Linke faced an existential crisis. But this year, it staged a historic comeback. Die Linke’s Ferat Koçak explains how a pro-welfare and anti-racist campaign led his party to victory.

For two decades after its evolution from East Germany’s PDS, Die Linke (the Left) has weathered repeated crises. These have included the shrinking of its strongholds in the east and bitter splits, including most recently Sahra Wagenknecht’s 2023 breakaway.

Yet, in 2025, it staged a comeback, winning new voters and reclaiming Bundestag seats. At the center of this revival is Berlin’s Ferat Koçak, the first Die Linke politician to secure a direct mandate outside the former GDR.

Jacobin spoke to Koçak about the party’s revival, the challenge of the far right, and the future of left