Zuhal Demir

Zuhal Demir (born 2 March 1980) is a Belgian lawyer and politician affiliated with the N-VA. Demir was elected as a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 2010 and served there until 2017. She served as Secretary of State for Poverty Reduction in the Belgian Government (2017–2018). She then served as the Flemish minister for Justice and Enforcement, Environment, Energy and Tourism in the Jambon Government. In September 2024 she was sworn in as Flemish minister for Education in the Diependaele Government.

Biography

Demir was born in Genk. She is the daughter of Alevi Kurdish parents from Turkey and lives in Antwerp. Her father moved to Belgium to work as a miner in the 1970s. She studied law at the KU Leuven in 1998–2003, and went on in 2003–2004 with a Master in Social Law at the VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). Since 2004, she has worked as a lawyer for an international law firm focusing on employment law. Demir held dual Belgian and Turkish citizenship but renounced the latter following her election to parliament.

She is married to Flemish businessman Jeroen Overmeer, who was previously a municipal councilor for the N-VA. They have a daughter born in 2017.

Political career

Demir was elected to the Chamber of Representatives during the 2010 Belgian federal election for the N-VA on the Antwerp constituency list.

From January 2013 until the end of 2015, she was the mayor of the district of Antwerp. In early 2016, she resigned from the position after moving back to Genk following the birth of her first child.

In February 2017, she succeeded Elke Sleurs as Secretary of State for Poverty Reduction, Equal Opportunities, People with Disabilities, Urban Policy and Scientific Policy. She has also chaired the Flemish government's integration strategy.