A Turkish court ordered the arrest of Umit Ozdag on charges of public incitement and anti-Syrian refugee riots after he was detained on Monday.
A Turkish court has ordered Victory Party leader Umit Ozdag detained pending trial on charges of inciting public hatred through social media.
Ozdag was detained on Monday on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for remarks in which he said “not even the crusaders caused as much damage to Turkiye as Erdogan.”
The party said the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office released Ozdag from detention on charges of insulting the president but later ordered his arrest on charges of “inciting hatred and hostility among the public.”
Prosecutors presented 11 of Ozdag’s posts about X as evidence against him, the party said. The prosecutor’s office also held Ozdag accountable for leading riots targeting Syrian refugees in Turkey’s central Kayseri province last year. Hundreds of homes and businesses were attacked during this period.
Ozdag said in a post on
“Workers who had to survive on minimum wage and retirees living below the hunger threshold were arrested! … You can arrest me, but you can’t silence me without killing me!”
Ozdag, a 63-year-old former academic, has been an outspoken critic of Turkiye’s refugee policies and has called for the repatriation of millions of Syrian refugees.
Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), protested the arrests and said the decision was a murder of justice and a destruction of democracy and judicial independence.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu also protested Ozdag’s arrest, saying it amounted to political interference in the judiciary.
