Victory Party (Turkey)

The Victory Party (Turkish: Zafer Partisi, ZP) is a right-wing[18] to far-right,[19][20][21] ultranationalist,[22][23] anti-immigrant and Kemalist political party in Turkey founded on August 26, 2021[24] under the leadership of Ümit Özdağ. It was represented in the Grand National Assembly by a single MP, Özdağ himself, until it failed to pass the electoral threshold in the 2023 election and therefore was disqualified from winning any seats.[25]

Victory Party
Zafer Partisi
AbbreviationZP (unofficial)
LeaderÜmit Özdağ
Secretary-GeneralCezmi Polat
SpokespersonMehmet Ali Şehirlioğlu
FounderÜmit Özdağ
Founded26 August 2021 (2021-08-26)
Split fromGood Party
HeadquartersAnkara, Turkey
Youth wingAyyıldız Movement
Membership (2023)Increase 25,535[1]
IdeologyAnti-immigration[2][3]
Ultranationalism[4][5][6][7]
Kemalism[8]
Pan-Turkism[9]
Political positionRight-wing[15] to far-right[16][17]
Colours  Red
  White
  Grey
SloganZafer Partisi Gelecek Sığınmacılar Gidecek ("The Victory Party Will Come, The Refugees Will Go")
AnthemKutlu Olsun ("May it be blessed")
Grand National Assembly
0 / 600
Municipal Assemblies
3 / 20,498
Website
zaferpartisi.org.tr

The Victory Party is the continuation of the Ayyıldız Movement (lit. 'Star and Crescent Movement') initiated by Ümit Özdağ,[26] which became a youth movement after the establishment of the party. The founding petition of the party was submitted to the Ministry of the Interior on 26 August 2021 and then the party was officially established.[27]

History

The party was founded by Ümit Özdağ, due to his many disagreements with other Turkish parties, including corruption allegations, the demographic effects of the ruling AKP's refugee policies (which the Victory Party calls "strategic demographic engineering"), the "anti-democratic approaches" by the İYİ Party, and his feuds with the MHP and the modern CHP. In Özdağ's words, it was organized under the name of Ayyıldız Movement with the aim of "forming the motto of Turkish nationalism along the lines of Atatürk" and submitted its founding petition to the Ministry of Interior on August 26, 2021, when it was officially established.[28][29]

Party leader Ümit Özdağ declared Ankara mayor Mansur Yavaş as his favorite candidate for the 2023 presidential elections,[30] although Yavaş was a member of the CHP. Yavaş stated the declaration was without his knowledge and consent, declaring he was not a candidate for president. Ümit Özdağ confirmed that his statement was not with the consent of the Mayor of Ankara, claiming "It would have been a plot if we informed Mansur Yavaş".[31][32]

Upon its establishment, the party had two MPs, Ümit Özdağ and İsmail Koncuk.[33] İsmail Koncuk later rejoined the İYİ Party.[34] The party is currently represented only by Ümit Özdağ.[25]

In February 2023, Muharrem İnce, the leader of the Homeland Party, announced that his party was discussing an electoral alliance with the Democratic Left Party, the Victory Party, True Party and the Justice Party for the 2023 Turkish general election.[35] On 6 March 2023, Muharrem İnce left the 4-party alliance negotiations by sending a message to their WhatsApp group.[36]

On 11 March 2023, the Ata Alliance was formed with Victory Party, Justice Party, and two other minor parties.[37] The alliance nominated Sinan Oğan as their presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, who came in 3rd place in the first round.[38] The alliance dissolved on 21 May after the elections.[39] On 24 May Özdağ and the party announced they would back Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the second round of the elections.[40]

Controversies

Süleyman Soylu and Ümit Özdağ

On May 5, 2022, Ümit Özdağ made a press statement against the Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who criticized him heavily in a television program, and stated that he would be in front of the Ministry of Interior building at 11:00 the next day and that he was waiting for Süleyman Soylu. Özdağ and the crowd went to the Ministry of Interior the next day, but were blocked by the police. The statements made by Özdağ in front of the Ministry, and the statements he made to Soylu increased the visibility of his party in the media.[41][42]

On September 13, 2022, a banner with the inscription "Domestic and National Escobar" on the Victory Party's Fatih District Directorate building and a bald and halfless head image below was hung. The Prosecutor's Office quickly removed this banner, stating that it "insulted a public official". Although it was not disclosed which public official was effectively being insulted.[43][44]

Leadership

These are the board members of Victory Party:[45]

# Name Title
1 Ümit Özdağ Chairperson
2 İlkim Yüksel Director of Education and Social Policies
3 Cezmi Polat General Secretary
4 Ali Dinçer Çolak Director of Organization
5 Sevda Gül Tunçer Director of Youth Politics and Party Spokeswomen
6 Şükrü Sina Gürel Director of Foreign Policy Responsible
7 Mehmet Alagöz Director of Development Policies
8 Murat Yıldız Director of Legal Affairs
9 Şahin Filiz Director of the Turkic World
10 Nadir Özkardaş Director of Relations with Bureaucracy
11 Aslan Yaman Director of Economics
12 Eser Güneysel Director of Propaganda
13 Songül Mercan Director of Local Administrations
14 Uğur Batur Director of Press and Publications
15 Aziz Ergen Director of Coordination Studies
16 Sevda Özbek Director of Women, Family and Children
17 Koçak Tükenmez Director of R&D
18 Fikret Bayır Director of National Security
19 Seyit Yücel Director of Political Affairs
20 Erdinç Örencik Director of European and American Turkishness
21 Mustafa Hakan Akşit General Accountant
22 Lütfü Şahsuvaroğlu Director of Election Affairs
23 Mehmet Ali Şehirlioğlu Director of Health Policy
24 Fatma Melike Karaaslan Assistant Secretary General

Electoral performance

Parliamentary elections
Election Leader Votes Seats Position
#  % Rank # ±
2023 Ümit Özdağ 1,215,264 2.23 7th new Extra-parliamentary opposition

Presidential elections
ElectionCandidateVotes %OutcomeMap
2023
Sinan Oğan

(Independent, supported by Victory Party)

2,831,2085.17%3rd

References
  1. "Zafer Partisi" (in Turkish). Court of Cassation. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  2. "Zafer Partisi Kuruluş Bildirgesini Ümit Özdağ tek tek açıkladı!". www.habererk.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  3. "Özdağ'dan 'Anadolu Kalesi' projesi: Sığınmacılar için Şam yönetimiyle görüşecek". 19 April 2022. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  4. "Zafer Partisi nedir, kurucusu kim, ne zaman kuruldu? Zafer Partisi logosu ne? Zafer Partisi üyeleri kimler?". 24 August 2021. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  5. "Yeni milliyetçilik ve Zafer Partisi fenomeni" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  6. Michaelson, Ruth (24 May 2023). "Ultranationalist leader backs Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for Turkish presidency". The Guardian.
  7. "AKP spokesperson says Victory Party and HDP 'cannot come together'". Duvar. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  8. "Son dakika... Zafer Partisi Genel Başkanı Ümit Özdağ'dan Habertürk'e açıklamalar" (in Turkish). 26 April 2022. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  9. "Zafer Partisi Lideri Ümit Özdağ: "Birleşik Türk Devletleri pasaportu ile seyahat edeceğimiz günler yakındır"". Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  10. "Turkey's open door closes: How Europe can better support Syrian refugees". 9 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  11. "Leader of right-wing party faces complaint over visit to Syrian-owned shop". 30 December 2021. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
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  18. [10][11][17][12][13][14]
  19. "Turkey Signals Possible Rapprochement With Syria". VOA. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022. On the other hand, the far-right Victory Party calls for forced deportations of Syrian refugees, blaming them for the rising food prices.
  20. Osterlund, Paul Benjamin. "Killing of refugee highlights struggle facing Syrians in Turkey". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
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  24. Ekovitrin. "Ümit Özdağ'ın yeni partisi Zafer Partisi'nin GİK ve MDK üyeleri kimler?". ekovitrin.com/ (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
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  31. "Mansur Yavaş'tan 'Cumhurbaşkanlığı adaylığı' sorusuna yanıt". www.ntv.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  32. "Ümit Özdağ'dan Mansur Yavaş açıklaması: Temas gerçekleştirmiş olsaydık bu komplo olurdu, doğru olmazdı". Archived from the original on 12 April 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
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  34. Kolcu, Gamze (25 May 2022). "İsmail Koncuk, yeniden İYİ Parti saflarına katılıyor". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  35. "Memleket Partisi, Demokratik Sol Parti, Zafer Partisi, Adalet Partisi ve Doğru Parti'den 4. Ittifak geliyor". Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  36. "Muharrem İnce 'mesajla' 4'lü ittifaktan ayrıldı". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  37. "Ata İttifakı hangi partilerden oluşuyor? Ata İttifakı'nın cumhurbaşkanı adayı kim?". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 11 March 2023. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  38. "'Ata İttifakı' bir eksikle ilan edildi: Zafer inananların olacak". Gazete Duvar. 11 March 2023. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  39. "Vecdet Öz: ATA İttifakı Sona Ermiş Oldu, Her Parti İstediği Kararı Verir" (in Turkish). 21 May 2023.
  40. Hayatsever, Huseyin; Kucukgocmen, Ali (24 May 2023). "Turkey anti-immigrant party leader backs Erdogan's challenger in runoff". Reuters. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  41. "İçişleri Bakanlığı'na yürüyüşü engellenen Ümit Özdağ: Süleyman Soylu, sen Türkiye'nin en büyük kriminalisin". BBC News Türkçe. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  42. "Son anketi köşesinden paylaştı: Zafer Partisi'nin oy oranı şaşırttı! - Veryansın TV". 14 June 2022. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  43. ""Yerli ve Milli Escobar" pankartına polis baskını". 16 September 2022. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  44. "Yerli ve milli Escobar pankartı tartışma yarattı". Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  45. "Başkanlık Divanı". zaferpartisi.org.tr. 3 March 2022. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
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