Firas Remmo, son of Berlin clan leader Issa Remmo, published a screenshot on Instagram showing a purported private chat with Left Party Bundestag member Ferat Koçak, intensifying political scrutiny surrounding the party’s contacts with clan members. According to the published messages, Koçak sent greetings of respect to Issa Remmo and asked the younger Remmo to share a video of one of his parliamentary speeches. Both men addressed each other as “brother” in the exchange, though the authenticity of the screenshot remains unverified.
“We stick together and fight together for our goals,” Firas Remmo wrote in his Instagram post alongside the image. He added, “We are winners. We are makers. We are a team. And together we achieve things that would never be possible alone.”
Political Aftermath of the Neukölln Election Party
The social media post increases pressure on Berlin’s Left Party to clarify its ties to members of the Remmo family. Issa Remmo attended an election victory party hosted by the Neukölln district association of the Left Party on the evening of the party’s local election win. The district association subsequently distanced itself from the incident.
Ferat Koçak, who represents Berlin-Neukölln in the Bundestag, stated that he was not present when Issa Remmo visited the event. According to Koçak, the election party was open to the general public. A spokesperson for the Neukölln Left Party stated that Remmo was not on the registration list, his presence was unknown to the organization, and no political or personal relationships exist between the party and Remmo.
Elif Eralp, top candidate for the Left Party in Berlin, addressed the incident in an interview with ZDF, stating that Remmo was uninvited and escorted out. “We have nothing to do with organized crime, we fight it,” Eralp said.
Scrutiny Over Additional Event Attendees
Koçak faces separate criticism regarding the presence of anti-Israeli extremist Ibrahim Ibrahim at the same Neukölln election party. Images from Sunday evening show Koçak alongside Ibrahim, who is identified as a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) supporter.
The Remmo family arrived in Berlin from Lebanon in the 1980s and comprises several hundred members. German police attribute criminal activities to a portion of the extended family. Family members have faced numerous convictions, including involvement in the 2017 theft of the “Big Maple Leaf” gold coin from Berlin’s Bode Museum and the 2019 burglary of the Green Vault in Dresden.
The term “clan crime” (Clankriminalität), utilized by German authorities, remains politically contentious. Critics argue the designation stigmatizes and discriminates against individuals with migrant backgrounds based solely on family lineage. The Left Party largely rejects the use of the term.
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