Ümit Özdağ

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Ümit Özdağ MP
Deputy Leader of the Nationalist Movement Party
In office 14 November 2015 – 24 February 2016
Leader	Devlet Bahçeli
Preceded by	Yıldırım Tuğrul Türkeş
Succeeded by	Mehmet Günal
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 July 2018
Constituency	Istanbul (II) (2018)
In office 7 June 2015 – 7 July 2018
Constituency	Gaziantep (Jun 2015, Nov 2015)
Personal details
Born	(1961-03-03) 3 March 1961 (age 60) Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Turkish
Political party	Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) (until 2016) Good Party (İYİ) (2017–2020) Victory Party (2021–present)
Spouse(s)	Burçin Bulur
Children	1
Education	Political science
Alma mater	Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Gazi University
Occupation	Academic, politician
Website	umitozdag.com

Ümit Özdağ (born 3 March 1961) is a Turkish politician and current Member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. He was deputy leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (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 İYİ Party. 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.^[1] On 16 November 2020, Özdağ was also dismissed from the İYİ Party.^[2]

Early life and career[]

Ümit Özdağ was born on 3 March 1961 in Tokyo, Japan, where his father Muzaffer Özdağ served as a Turkish government advisor. His mother, Gönül Özdağ, would go on to serve as the first MHP Women's Wing President. 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.^[3]

Özdağ studied philosophy, politics and economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, before completing a master's degree on Turkish strategic development and state planning institutions. He married Dr. Burçin Özdağ and has one child.^[4]

Academic career[]

In 1986, Özdağ joined the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at Gazi University as a research fellow. In 1990, he completed a doctorate on military-political affairs in the Atatürk ve İnönü period. In 1993, he became a docent in political theory following his work on the 1960 military coup and political-military relations in the Adnan Menderes era.^[5] In 1994, Özdağ became the editor of an international relations and strategic research magazine named Avrasya Dosyası (Eurasia Files). Following research into terrorism and ethnic divisions in the late 1980s, he conducted sociopolitical ground research in the east and southeastern Anatolia regions of Turkey in 1995.^[6]

Between 1997 and 1998, Özdağ conducted research and gave lectures on globalisation and ethnic issues in Eurasia in Towson University in Baltimore, United States. He founded the Eurasian Strategic Research Centre (ASAM) in 1999, and launched the Armenian Research Institute in 2000. He served as the President and chair of the executive board of ASAM until 2004. Becoming a Professor in 2001, he left Gazi University in 2005 and became the President of the 21st Century Turkey Institute in the same year.^[7]

Political career[]

First MHP leadership bid[]

In 2006, Özdağ announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).^[8] His candidacy was rejected and his party membership was revoked two days later, with incumbent leader Devlet Bahçeli being re-elected. Özdağ subsequently returned to Gazi University 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.^[9]

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 in the June 2015 general election and was re-elected in the November 2015 general election.^[10] 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.^[11][12] 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.^[13]

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.^[14]

See also[]

• Meral Akşener
• Sinan Oğan
• Koray Aydın

References[]

External links[]

• MP profile on the Grand National Assembly website
• Personal website
• Personal twitter