On election night in Berlin-Neukölln, clan boss Issa Remmo walked into the Left Party’s (Die Linke) victory party and declared he finally felt supported by the party. Now, the far-left party is in damage control after trying to distance itself from Remmo, whose son has already leaked chats alleging his family’s ties go deeper with the Left Party than anyone thought possible.
Issa Remmo, widely described by police and prosecutors as the head of Berlin’s Remmo family, appeared at the Neukölln district association’s public election-night gathering yesterday evening, Sept. 20, 2026. The Left Party had just finished first in the local election with a provisional 25.7 percent, ahead of the CDU at 18.8 percent. Remmo posed for photos, including one where he makes a victory sign, and spoke to the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper.
“The Berlin Left is not hostile towards Jews,” he said, addressing a charge that had dogged the party throughout the campaign. “In Germany I feel supported by a party for the first time.” He added that he would not vote for an anti-Jewish politician.
Julius Betschka of Stern Magazine posted the scene the same evening, calling it “incredible” and noting that Remmo had been in the sights of the justice system for decades.
Wahnsinn. Der Chef des berüchtigten Remmo-Clans, Issa Remmo (seit Jahrzehnten im Visier der Justiz), feiert laut @morgenpost mit der Linkspartei in Neukölln den Wahlsieg. Er fühle sich von der Partei unterstützt, soll Remmo gesagt haben. pic.twitter.com/1JrXashpZl
— Julius Betschka (@JuliusBetschka) September 20, 2026The Left Party’s explanation has holes
The Left Party’s immediate response was one of denial. Jorinde Schulz of the Neukölln district board told dpa the event was public, Remmo was not on any guest list, and there were “neither political nor personal relations” with him. Lead candidate Elif Eralp said on ZDF shef “was not invited and was sent out again…We have nothing to do with organized crime. We fight it.”
Berlin state manager Bjoern Tielebein was blunter: “Types like him are definitely not our allies… Everything one hears and knows about this person is repulsive.”
Journalist Yossi Bartal, who said he was present, wrote that he recognized Remmo, informed organizers, and that Remmo was then “very clearly” asked to leave a loud, crowded hall that anyone could enter. Remmo was also reported at the larger Kreuzberg party later and turned away at the door.
However, the various accounts that attempted to distance the Left Party from Remmo appear to have fallen apart 24 hours later due to leaked messages from Firas Remmo, Issa’s son. Firas posted Instagram screenshots of messages he said came from MP Ferat Koçak. In one, the Left Party MP sent “greetings with respect back to your father” and proposed a morning visit. In another, dated Feb. 17, Koçak wrote “Brother help me spread this,” attaching a video of his own Bundestag speech criticizing the term “clan crime,” and asked that “all your people” share it. Firas replied “Gladly brother.” Koçak reacted with a heart emoji.
Firas captioned the posts: “We are part of something big. We stand together… We are a team.” Koçak had not publicly confirmed or denied the chats as of Monday afternoon.
If the chats are accurate, they do not prove Remmo was formally invited to the party. They do make the “complete stranger walked in off the street” version harder to sell.
Photos were also circulated showing Remmo posing with Ibrahim Ibrahim, described by the NGO Democ as a leading German supporter of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an EU-listed terrorist organization. Other images placed Ibrahim with Bundestag member Ferat Koçak and candidate Vanessa Emde. The Neukölln board later confirmed Ibrahim’s presence among “hundreds of guests,” including many from the Palestinian community.
🔴 @der_neukoellner MdB Ferat Koçak feiert bei Wahlparty seiner @LinkeNeukoelln mit Ibrahim Ibrahim (r.), Vertreter des extremistischen „Vereinigten Palästinensischen Nationalkomitees“ (VPNK), Dach für PFLP und Hamas in Berlin. Ibrahim gratuliert: VPNK war „Teil dieses Erfolgs“. pic.twitter.com/xy6LdPN420
— Alexander Fröhlich (@alx_froehlich) September 20, 2026The Remmo family has roots in southeastern Turkey via Lebanon, and its members settled in Berlin in the 1980s. Family members have been convicted in two of Germany’s most spectacular art thefts: the 100-kilogram “Big Maple Leaf” gold coin from the Bode Museum in 2017 and the 2019 Green Vault burglary in Dresden.
In 2018, prosecutors seized 77 properties attributed to the family on the theory they were bought with criminal proceeds; courts later ordered the confiscation of dozens of them. Issa Remmo himself has not been convicted. However, to police, prosecutors, and a large part of the Berlin public, the Remmo name is synonymous with organized clan crime.
Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) condemned the photos and Remmo’s presence at the Left Party’s event.
“That Issa Remmo appears at the election party of the Berlin Left is a disturbing signal,” he wrote. A party that wants to take responsibility for the city, he said, must make unmistakably clear that there is “no proximity whatsoever to structures that belong to organized crime.”
Dass Issa Remmo auf der Wahlparty der Berliner Linken auftaucht, ist ein verstörendes Signal. Gerade eine Partei, die Verantwortung für unsere Stadt übernehmen will, muss unmissverständlich deutlich machen, dass es keinerlei Nähe zu Strukturen geben darf, die zur organisierten…
— Kai Wegner (@kaiwegner) September 20, 2026He said Berlin had spent years pushing police, courts, and administration against clans and those efforts “deserve political backing, not pictures that raise doubts about the necessary distance.” Anyone who wants to govern Berlin, Wegner added, must stand “without ifs and buts” on the side of the rule of law.
Even the left is taking a harsh stance.
Green Party state chair Nina Stahr said the Left would have to explain the incident before any coalition talks.
Morgenpost commentary called the scene “a slap in the face for our police officers.”
As for Issa Remmo, he see a Left Party that he can benefit from. His family has spent years fighting asset forfeiture, and the Left Party wants to abolish weapons-ban zones, restrict certain police analytics, and treat large-scale property seizures with suspicion.
