The state parliament of Lower Saxony has sworn in Ayguel Oezkan as minister of social affairs for the northern state, making her the first female Muslim minister in Germany.

The 38-year-old, who is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), was born in Hamburg to Turkish immigrants. 

She was the party's economic policy spokeswoman for the regional parliamentary group in Hamburg before being appointed as the first Muslim woman in Germany to be elected to a ministerial post on the state level, Deutsche Welle reported. 

Earlier this month, Christian Wulff called her appointment "a good signal for children and young people with immigrant backgrounds." Oezkan however quickly made clear that she did not want to be regarded as a "token immigrant." 

Oezkan has said she intends to dedicate her efforts to furthering integration in Lower Saxony as social minister. 

"I have made it clear that I intend to take over the area of integration. Up to now, integration has been more and more part of the interior ministry, but this is an area where I would like to make an impact," she told the FocusMagazine.