Özlem Cekic -

BRIDGE BUILDER

Born in Turkey with Kurdish roots, Özlem Sara Cekic was one of the first women with a Muslim immigrant background to be elected to the Danish Parliament, where she served from 2007 to 2015. During her time as MP, her inbox was inundated with hate mail and threats. She first responded by deleting the emails, but then
she started replying and inviting those who had sent
her abusive messages to meet and engage in dialogue. She calls it #dialoguecoffee, as the meetings generally happen over coffee — usually at their home. She has met neo-Nazis, racists and religious extremists as she works to try to understand the origin of the hate, find a common language and develop a toolkit for building bridges. She’s also an author.

Özlem Cekic -

BRIDGE BUILDER

Born in Turkey with Kurdish roots, Özlem Sara Cekic was one of the first women with a Muslim immigrant background to be elected to the Danish Parliament, where she served from 2007 to 2015. During her time as MP, her inbox was inundated with hate mail and threats. She first responded by deleting the emails, but then
she started replying and inviting those who had sent
her abusive messages to meet and engage in dialogue. She calls it #dialoguecoffee, as the meetings generally happen over coffee — usually at their home. She has met neo-Nazis, racists and religious extremists as she works to try to understand the origin of the hate, find a common language and develop a toolkit for building bridges. She’s also an author.

Özlem Cekic

Özlem Cekic
Born in Turkey with Kurdish roots, Özlem Sara Cekic was one of the first women with a Muslim immigrant background to be elected to the Danish Parliament, where she served from 2007 to 2015. During her time as MP, her inbox was inundated with hate mail and threats. She first responded by deleting the emails, but then
she started replying and inviting those who had sent
her abusive messages to meet and engage in dialogue. She calls it #dialoguecoffee, as the meetings generally happen over coffee — usually at their home. She has met neo-Nazis, racists and religious extremists as she works to try to understand the origin of the hate, find a common language and develop a toolkit for building bridges. She’s also an author.