Dilan Yesilgoz, the leader of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy party, will become the Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in the new Cabinet of the Netherlands.

“Every day we see how our freedom and our lives in safety are not to be taken for granted. Therefore, it is a great honor and a privilege to be able to serve as Minister of Defence and, in the coming period, to build a country that stands firmly on its own feet, can protect itself against the threats of today and tomorrow, and to be responsible for the men and women who daily defend our country and our freedom,” she posted on X on Thursday.

On January 21, she also spoke out about the violence against Kurds and other minorities in Syria. 

“Brave Kurds, who gave everything in the fight against terror, are now becoming victims of brutal abuse and humiliation. I expect our security services to do everything in their power to prevent the chaos surrounding ISIS detention camps from allowing terrorists to make their way to our country,” she said, in reference to the fighting going on between Damascus and Kurdish fighters prior to an integration deal reached on January 30.

In May 2022, she visited the Kurdistan Region during her tenure during her tenure as the Dutch Minister of Justice.

During her previous visit, she met with Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and discussed the importance of continued support for the Kurdistan Region in the fight against ISIS, and the provision of further assistance for the survivors of ISIS crimes.

Yesilgoz was born in Ankara in 1977 to mixed Kurdish-Turkish parents, and came to the Netherlands when her father, Yücel Yessilgooz, a well-known criminologist from the city of Dersim (Tunceli), fled the 1984 military coup in Turkey.