Read about Ümit Özdağ net worth, age, wife, children, height, family, parents, salary and party as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Ümit Özdağ is a Turkish politician and a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. He was deputy leader of the far-right 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.
Özdağ had his party membership revoked by the MHP High Disciplinary Board on 15 November 2016 and joined the Good Party. In April 2019, he resigned from the 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 far-right anti-immigrant Victory Party on August 26, 2021, and was elected the first chairman.
Early life
| Name | Ümit Özdağ |
| Net Worth | $5 million |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Age | 62 years |
| Height | 1.75m |
Ümit Özdağ was born on March 3, 1961 (age 62 years) in Tokyo, Japan, where his father Muzaffer Özdağ served as a Turkish government advisor after the Coup d’etat of 1960. His parents are from the cities of Kayseri and Gaziantep in Turkey. His family hails from Dagestan and is of Kumyk origin. His mother, Gönül Özdağ, who is a former lawyer, is the founder and first president of the MHP women’s wing.
Özdağ’s 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, before completing a master’s degree in Turkish strategic development and state planning institutions.
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. 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 Ankara.
Ümit Özdağ completed his higher education at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich 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 Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in 1986.
He became a doctor of political science 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.
Ümit Özdağ gave 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, Eurasia and the Middle East, he has twenty-eight books published. He has published 11 books that he has also edited.
Political career
Ümit Özdağ announced in the year 2006 his candidacy for the leadership of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). 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.
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Özdağ 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. 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. 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.
In August 2021, he announced the foundation of the Victory Party, a far-right, anti-immigrant political party, whose logo was inspired by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Seljuk leader Alp Arslan. In May 2022 he had an altercation with Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who amongst other statements deemed him a puppet of George Soros, “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.
Wife
Ümit Özdağ is currently single and not married. Özdağ is divorced from his first wife with whom he has a son named Alp. He speaks English, German and French.
Ümit Özdağ net worth
How much is Ümit Özdağ worth? Ümit Özdağ net worth is estimated at around $5 million. His main source of income is from his primary work as a politician. Ümit Özdağ’s salary per month and other career earnings are over $350,000 dollars annually. His remarkable achievements have earned him some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy car trips. He is one of the richest and most influential politicians in Turkey. He stands at an appealing height of 1.75m and has a good body weight which suits his personality.