Far-right Victory Party (ZP) Chairperson Ümit Özdağ, who was detained on Monday, has been arrested on charges of “publicly inciting hatred and hostility,” the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday.
Özdağ was taken into custody in Ankara and later transferred to Istanbul, where legal proceedings were carried out at the Istanbul Courthouse. After providing his statement to the prosecutor's office, he was referred to the on-duty criminal court of peace, which ruled for his arrest on the charge of incitement.
Authorities initially launched an investigation into Özdağ on accusations of "insulting the president." The scope of the inquiry was later expanded to include charges of inciting public hatred and hostility.
Following his questioning by the Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau, prosecutors requested his arrest, which was subsequently approved by the court.
Legal proceedings against Özdağ are ongoing as authorities continue their investigation.
ZP chair is known for his harsh rhetoric against migrants and refugees. His anti-migrant party repeatedly targeted refugees from neighboring Syria who fled civil war into Türkiye. ZP’s critics say Özdağ’s discourse fueled anti-refugee sentiment in the country, even leading to riots targeting neighborhoods where refugees and migrants lived.
Özdağ, an academic, is known for his aggressive “interviews” with migrants and refugees and perpetuated the claims of a “silent invasion” of Türkiye by refugees and migrants from around the world. He rode a wave of popularity amid fluctuating anti-refugee sentiment, which helped the rise of far-rightists in the country blaming their burden on the economy.
He was a former lawmaker from the government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). He later joined the Good Party (IP), founded by former MHP politicians, and left that party too in 2021 and went on to form the ZP, which proved popular among the social media youth nurturing far-right views. In the 2023 elections, Özdağ endorsed Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, candidate of a six-party opposition bloc against Erdoğan while ZP won 2.2% of the vote in legislative elections where it jointly ran with the Justice Party under the “ATA Alliance.” In last year’s municipal elections, it won only 1.74% of the vote.
