Ümit Özdağ (; born 3 March 1961,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

) is a Turkish politician and the current leader of the Victory Party. He was deputy leader of the far-right

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...

(MHP) from November 2015 to February 2016. He announced his candidacy for the party leadership for the 8th MHP Ordinary Congress in 2006, but had his membership revoked two days later. After returning to the party following a successful lawsuit, he again announced his candidacy for the MHP leadership in April 2016 for the 2016 Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congress, which was eventually called off after numerous legal disputes. He had his party membership revoked by the MHP High Disciplinary Board on 15 November 2016 joined the

Good Party The Good Party (Turkish language, Turkish: ''İYİ Parti'') is a Turkish nationalism, nationalist, Kemalism, Kemalist and Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, established on 25 October 2017 b ...

. In April 2019, he resigned from party's executive board but announced that he will continue to be in the party and continue his party-related activities. On 16 November 2020, Özdağ was also dismissed from the Good Party. He founded the right wing anti-immigrant Victory Party on 26 August 2021 and was elected the first chairman.

Early life

Ümit Özdağ was born on 3 March 1961 in

, Japan, where his father Muzaffer Özdağ served as a Turkish government advisor after the Coup d'etat of 1960. His father was of Kumyk descent, born in Pınarbaşı to a family originally from

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

. His mother, Gönül Özdağ, who is a former lawyer, is the founder and first president of the MHP women's wing. His father was a close ally of MHP founder Alparslan Türkeş, and served as a member of the National Unity Committee that was installed following the 1960 Turkish coup d'état. Özdağ studied philosophy, politics and economics at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, before completing a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

on Turkish strategic development and state planning institutions.

Educational and academic career

Ümit Özdağ completed his primary, secondary and high school education at TED Ankara College. During his high school years, Ümit Özdağ started a political struggle within the idealist movement (Ülkücü Movement) at Çankaya Ülkü Ocakları and Ankara College in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. Due to his nationalist activities during this struggle, he was dismissed from Ankara College with a certificate of approval upon the instruction of the Governor of Ankara. Therefore, Ümit Özdağ received his high school diploma from Aktepe High School in

. Ümit Özdağ completed his higher education at Ludwig Maximilians University in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

between 1980–1986. He studied political science and philosophy. He prepared his graduate study on "Planned Development and State Planning Organization in Turkey". Ümit Özdağ started to work as a research assistant at

Gazi University Gazi University () is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk originally as the Gazi Education Institute (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Gazi Eğitim Ens ...

Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in 1986. He became a doctor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1990 with his study on "Army-Political Relations in the Period of Atatürk and İnönü". He received the title of Associate Professor of Political Theory in 1993 with his thesis on "Army-Political Relations in the Menderes Period and the May 27 Coup". He then started to publish and edit the quarterly, named “Eurasia File”, which was to be published until 2004. He has given conferences at various universities and research centers in Washington, Moscow, Tokyo, New Delhi, Cairo, Alexandria, Brussels, Tehran, Bishkek, Alma Ata, London, Munich and Tel Aviv. He has also participated in congresses in many countries and presented papers. Working on security sciences, intelligence science, low-intensity conflict, ethnic problems, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

and the Middle East, he has twenty-eight books published. He has published 11 books that he has also edited.

Political career

First MHP leadership bid

In 2006, Özdağ announced his candidacy for the leadership of the

(MHP). His candidacy was rejected and his party membership was revoked two days later, with incumbent leader

Devlet Bahçeli Devlet Bahçeli (born 1 January 1948) is a Turkish people, Turkish politician, economist, former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the Far-right politics, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationa ...

being re-elected. Özdağ subsequently returned to

as a lecturer. He returned to the MHP in 2010 following a successful lawsuit, being fielded as a parliamentary candidate from İstanbul's second electoral district for the 2011 general election. Being in fourth place in his party's candidate list, he was not elected.

Second MHP leadership bid

During the 11th Nationalist Movement Party Ordinary Congress, he was elected as a member of the MHP Central Executive Committee. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

in the June 2015 general election and was re-elected in the November 2015 general election. On 14 November, he became a Deputy Leader of the Party responsible for the Turkish world and international relations. Özdağ resigned as deputy leader on 24 February 2016, calling for the party to hold an extraordinary congress following its heavy defeat in the November 2015 election. He announced his candidacy for the party leadership on 9 April 2016 after fellow leadership candidates began collecting delegate signatures for an extraordinary congress. The process of holding the 2016 Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congress became embroiled in legal disputes and was eventually disbanded after an intervention from the Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey. On 20 October, Özdağ was again referred to the MHP High Disciplinary Board pending dismissal from the party, which took effect on 15 November 2016. Özdağ claimed that his dismissal also originated from his opposition to an executive presidency, which Devlet Bahçeli supported. The MHP announced that they would jointly draft a new constitution that included an executive presidency with the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) in October 2016.

Victory Party

In August 2021, he announced the foundation of the Victory Party, a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

anti-immigrant Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, is a political position that seeks to restrict immigration. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory in ...

political party, whose logo was inspired by

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

and the Seljuk leader

Alp Arslan Alp Arslan, born Muhammad Alp Arslan bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second List of sultans of the Seljuk Empire, sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk (warlord), Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty and the empire. He g ...

. In May 2022 he had an altercation with Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who amongst other statements deemed him a puppet of

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

, "not a human, lower than an animal" during a TV broadcast. In response, Özdağ challenged to see Soylu at his ministry, and that if he was "man enough" should not hide behind the Turkish police. As Özdağ then showed up at the ministry, he was blocked by the police. According to a Bloomberg analysis, the average likes Ümit Özdağ got on Twitter in May 2022 exceeded

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

Arrest

An investigation was launched against Ümit Özdağ for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Özdağ was detained on January 20, 2025. A day later, on January 21, he was arrested on charges of “publicly inciting the public to hatred and hostility or insulting them”. Some of the posts were related to the 2024 anti-refugee riots in Turkey. On 17 June, Özdağ was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for the charges, but was ordered released by the same court due to time served in pre-trial detention.

Personal life

Özdağ is divorced and has one son. He speaks Turkish, English and German.https://www.21yyte.org/index.php/tr/kadro/prof-dr-umit-ozdag

Electoral history

Parliamentary

;As an MP ;As a party leader

Books

* ''Değişen Dünya Dengeleri ve Basra Körfezi Krizi'', 1990 * ''Atatürk ve İnönü Dönemlerinde Ordu-Siyaset İlişkisi'', * ''Menderes ve İnönü Döneminde Ordu-Siyaset İlişkileri ve 27 Mayıs İhtilali'', 1996, * ''Türkiye, Kuzey Irak ve PKK - Bir Gayri Nizami Savaşın Anatomisi'', 1999 * ''Türkiye-Avrupa Birliği İlişkileri'', 2003 * ''Türkiye'de Düşük Yoğunluklu Çatışma ve PKK'', 2005 * ''Yeniden Türk Milliyetçiliği'', 2006, * ''Gelecek 1000 Yılda da Buradayız'', 2006, * ''Kürtçülük Sorununun Analizi ve Çözüm Politikaları'', 2006, * ''Atatürk ve İnönü Dönemlerinde Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri'', 2006, * ''Türk Ordusunun PKK Operasyonları'', 2007, * ''Kerkük, Irak ve Ortadoğu'', 2007, * ''Türk Ordusunun Kuzey Irak Operasyonları'', 2008, * ''Telafer: Bir Türkmen Kentinin Amerikan Ordusu ve Peşmergelere Karşı Savaşı'', 2008, * ''İstihbarat Teorisi'', 2008, * ''PKK Neden Bitmedi Nasıl Biter - Kürtçülük Sorununun Analizi ve Çözüm Politikaları'', 2008 * ''Pusu ve Katliamların Kronolojisi'', 2009, * ''Ermeni Psikolojik Savaşı'', (Prof. Dr. Özcan Yeniçeri ile), 2009, * ''Cumhuriyetin En Uzun Dört Yılından Geçerken Türk Sorunu'', 2010 * ''Türk Ordusu PKK’yı Nasıl Yendi, Türkiye PKK’ya Nasıl Teslim Oluyor'', 2010, * ''Doğu Raporu'', (İkbal Vurucu ve Ali Aydın Akbaş ile birlikte), 2011, * ''İkinci Tek Parti Dönemi - AKP'nin Yumuşak Hegemon Parti Projesinin Anatomisi'', 2011 * ''Küçük Orta Doğu: Suriye'', 2012, * ''21. Yüzyılda Prens'', 2012, * ''Algı Yönetimi: Propaganda, Psikolojik Savaş, Örtülü Operasyon ve Enformasyon Savaşı'', 2014, * ''İstihbarat Örgütleri'', 2015, * ''Milli Güvenlik Teorisi'', 2015, * ''Türk Dış Politikası'', (Yelda Demirağ ile birlikte), 2016, * ''PKK İle Pazarlık: Öcalan İle Anayasa Yapmak'', 2016, * ''Türk'ün Vatanla İmtihanı'', 2017, * ''100.Yılında Birinci Dünya Savaşı'', 2017 * ''Türk Dış Politikasını Nasıl Bilirdiniz'', (Yelda Demirağ ile Birlikte), 2017, * ''İstihbarat Örgütleri'', 2017 * ''Cesetler Gölgeler Yalanlar'', 2017, * ''İkinci Tek Parti Dönemi'', 2017, * ''Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa'nın 100.Yılında Türk İstihbaratı'', 2017 * ''21. Yüzyılda Türk Dünyası Jeopolitiği'', 2017, * ''Türk Sorunu'', 2017, * ''Kendi Ülkesinde Kuşatılan ve Bölünen Ordu: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri'', 2019, * ''Kaçınılmaz Çöküş'', 2019, * ''Türk Dış Politikasında Hasar Tespiti'', 2019, * ''Stratejik Göç Mühendisliği'', 2020, * ''Saray Rejiminin Çöküşü ve Türkiye'nin Yükselişi'', 2021,

References

External links

MP profile on the Grand National Assembly website

Personal website

Personal Twitter

Personal Youtube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozdag, Umit Living people Nationalist Movement Party politicians Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Academic staff of Gazi University Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Deputies of Gaziantep Gazi University alumni 1961 births Former Good Party politicians Turkish political party founders Politicians from Tokyo Deniers of the Armenian genocide Turkish nationalists Far-right politics in Turkey Good Party politicians Turkish prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Turkey Inmates of Silivri Prison Political prisoners in Turkey