Dilek Kolat


Dilek Kolat is a Turkish-German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party. She has been serving as State Minister for Health, Care and Equality in the government of Mayor Michael Müller since 8 December 2016. Prior to this she was Deputy Governing Mayor of Berlin and State Minister for Labour, Integration and Women.

Early life and education

Kolat has lived in Germany since was three years old.
Kolat studied Mathematical economics at the Technical University of Berlin, after that she worked at the Deutsche Kreditbank.

Political career

From 1995 until 1999, Kolat was a member of the borough council of Schöneberg and the deputy leader of the SPD group in the council.
In the 2001 state elections, Kolat won the Tempelhof-Schöneberg 3 constituency with 39.6% of the vote. She was able to defend her constituency in all subsequent elections. Between 2006 and 2011, Kolat was the deputy leader of the SPD group in the Berlin Abgeordenetenhaus.
In November 2011 Berlin's Governing Mayor, Klaus Wowereit appointed Kolat State Minister for Labour, Integration and Women, a post she held until 2016. After Wowereit's resignation in 2014 and Michael Müller's election as Governing Mayor she succeeded him as Deputy Governing Mayor in December 2014.
After the 2016 state elections, Kolat become State Minister for Health, Care and Equality in December 2016, she was not reappointed Deputy Governing Mayor, being succeeded by the Green Party politician Ramona Pop.
As one of the state’s representatives at the Bundesrat since 2011, Kolat is a member of the Committee on Health. She is also a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up by the Bundesrat and the Russian Federation Council.

Other activities

Corporate boards

Kolat lives in Berlin's Lichterfelde district. From 1989 until 2017 she was married to Kenan Kolat.