Breaking News... Release decision issued for Ümit Özdağ: Here are Özdağ's first words

"Publicly inciting the public to hatred and hostility" Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ, who was imprisoned on charges of, appeared before the judge again today. Ümit Özdağ was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison and his release was ordered.

FIRST STATEMENT FROM ÖZEL

Speaking at the CHP Group meeting regarding the release decision for Ümit Özdağ, Özgür Özel made the following statements:

"One of my eyes was on his trial in Silivri. I had attended his previous hearing. Today, Mayor Mansur is there on behalf of all of us. There is good news from dear Ümit Özdağ, who has been held in Silivri for months with great injustice and whom we have supported at every one of our rallies. May it be auspicious for the Zafer Party."

DECISION MET WITH JOY

Zafer Party members also came to Silivri to support Ümit Özdağ's hearing. The party members received the news of his release with joy.

HIS DEFENSE REVEALED

The defense presented by Zafer Party leader Ümit Özdağ in the case is as follows:

"Your Honor;

The indictment and the prosecutor's opinion are among the most concrete examples of a legal murder. In his opinion, the prosecutor presented the document prepared by the Kayseri Provincial Security Directorate as proof of my guilt. The prosecution cannot present as evidence an unsigned, unstamped document that does not even qualify as an intelligence report and whose author is unknown. Furthermore, there is no X post made by Ümit Özdağ in this document. The shared X posts belong to former Zafer Party members and a person alleged to be affiliated with the Zafer Party. Even if these X posts were a crime, crime is personal. Do you hold Erdoğan responsible for the crimes committed by AK Party members, or Bahçeli for the crimes committed by MHP members, that you hold Ümit Özdağ responsible for the crime committed by former Zafer Party members? Moreover, the only X post that entered the indictment from the Kayseri Security Directorate's fabricated document is the post by Oğuzhan Kumpınar for which a decision of non-prosecution was issued. The two posts that the prosecutor did not include in the indictment, which were posted after the events, also received non-prosecution decisions. Even the prosecutors of the Inquisition Courts could not have succeeded in extracting a crime from non-criminal X posts, but the prosecutor has succeeded.

Your Honor;

Although Ümit Özdağ is not mentioned even once in the document prepared by the Kayseri Security Directorate, the prosecutor claimed in his opinion that “in the report dated 21.01.2025 prepared by the Kayseri Provincial Security Directorate, Security Branch Directorate, Public Security Bureau, it was stated that Ümit Özdağ's posts were effective in the formation of the events that occurred in Kayseri between 30.06.2024 and 03.07.2024, resulting in the injury of 25 police and 1 fire department personnel, damage to 263 residences/workplaces and 166 vehicles, and the participation of 15,100 people in protest actions.” This claim is not true. There is no such claim in the document. My name is not even there. It is also unacceptable for the prosecutor to distort the facts so ruthlessly. Ümit Özdağ's name is never mentioned in the mentioned document. What is said in the document is that it is evaluated that those who participated in the events in Kayseri were influenced by the X posts of former Zafer Party members and persons affiliated with the Zafer Party. The prosecution has both put an unsigned, so-called document with no legal value into the file, and is now claiming that this document accuses Ümit Özdağ. Just this illegal and clearly false claim by the prosecutor shows that the prosecution sees Ümit Özdağ not as a citizen, but as an enemy, and is applying Enemy Criminal Law.

The prosecutor's second piece of evidence for the crime is the X posts I have made. The prosecutor stated that these posts influenced the public by being shared by others as well. I am a political party chairman. Of course, I will make posts. Of course, our citizens will read them. However, the prosecution must demonstrate, as required by Article 216/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which of my X posts incited the events in Kayseri. The prosecution did not even present a single X post of mine related to Kayseri to prove that I incited the events in Kayseri.

Your Honor;

The prosecutor says exactly this in his opinion: “It is seen that he made numerous posts from the official X account named Ümit Özdağ, the details of which are written in the indictment, that the examination of the posts shows that they are of a nature to publicly incite one segment of the public against another, that the posts subject to the crime were later quoted and shared repeatedly by many people, and that many actions occurred in Kayseri after the posts.” Yes, this is the prosecution's crime fiction. Do only the people of Kayseri read my X posts? Why did no events occur in Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, and Şanlıurfa, where Syrians live much more densely, due to my X posts, but they did in Kayseri? There is not the slightest connection between my X posts and the Kayseri events. The reason for the events in Kayseri is the attempted molestation of a 7-year-old girl by her 27-year-old Syrian uncle, which the prosecution is persistently trying to hide. The honorable people of Kayseri are not provoked by a 27-year-old man molesting a 7-year-old girl in a public restroom, but they are provoked by the X posts made by Ümit Özdağ. This is the prosecution's scenario. This is an insult to the people of Kayseri. It is not possible to reasonably explain a legal professional, a Public Prosecutor, hiding this fact and saying “Ümit Özdağ posted on X, events broke out in Kayseri.”

Your Honor,

The prosecution, in its indictment and opinion, claims that I incited the social events that started on the night of June 30, 2024, in Kayseri by making 2 posts in 2020, 2 in 2021, 12 in 2022, 10 in 2023, and 2 in 2024, and retweeting 3 different accounts in 2023. And it characterizes these posts as a crime. The 8th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation has established the framework required for a statement to be a crime. I quote from the decision numbered 2021/16861: “According to the article; for the said crime to occur, the danger of public security being disrupted must emerge clearly and imminently. Clarity is the probability of the danger emerging in a way that leaves no room for doubt due to the perpetrator's action. Imminence refers to the fact that not enough time has passed between the perpetrator's action and the danger of damage to break the causal link. The judge will discuss and justify in the decision whether this danger has occurred due to the expressions used. The existence of a causal link between the perpetrator's action and the danger is necessary for the formation of the crime. According to the justification of the article, unless the existence of a clear and imminent danger due to the perpetrator's action is concretely determined, one cannot proceed to punishment for the said crime. Furthermore, the “incitement” that constitutes the crime, beyond abstract disrespect and rejection, must be objectively capable of ensuring that hostile attitudes are shown towards a segment of the public or reinforcing such attitudes. The perpetrator must also subjectively pursue this goal and incite a segment of the public to hatred and enmity… For the act to constitute a crime, beyond these, there must be the existence of incitement to heavy and intense hatred and hostility. In other words, it must contain an effective call to violence or hate speech.”

Your Honor;

How does my sharing a news item from an internet site on 18.04.2020 stating “Hatay Mayor Lütfü Savaş reacted: Syrians have started buying land suitable for planting” create a “danger in a way that leaves no room for doubt” for the events that broke out in Kayseri on June 30, 2024, and establish the clarity criterion? And there are 4 years between the date I made this post and the Kayseri events. How can a causal link be established?

Your Honor;

The 8th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation decided in its decision numbered 2024/2317 that a causal link could not be established in a negative post made 54 days before the martyrdom of the Mardin/Derik District Governor. The prosecution, however, claims that 32 of my posts, made years and months ago, which have nothing to do with Kayseri or even Syrians, incited the Kayseri events. This is clearly contrary to the law and the precedents of the Court of Cassation.

The 8th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation says the following in its decision numbered 2022/917: “On the other hand, when considered together with the expressions of hatred and hostility in the article, it emerges that only incitements that contain violence or call for violence can be evaluated within the scope of the article. Indeed, in the doctrine, as a result of the act committed, it is necessary for various segments of the public to gather somewhere or for an outrage to occur among these segments of the public.”

Your Honor;

The reason I am sharing this decision of the Court of Cassation is that the prosecution claimed in the indictment that “it is not necessary for the incitement to have brought the specified groups face to face for the crime to occur, and that it would be sufficient for persons belonging to one class to be incited to hatred against some persons belonging to another class, or for existing hatred to be reinforced.” In my defense, I asked how the prosecution determines hatred, whether they produced a device called a hatred-meter. When the prosecution saw that the crime defined in Article 216/1 did not fit Ümit Özdağ, they rewrote the article. However, the decision of the 8th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation is very clear:

1) It must contain violence or call for violence,

2) The public must take action.

There is no violence or call for violence in any of my X posts, but the opposite is true. And none of my X posts have mobilized the public.

In summary, the prosecution's claims are devoid of any legal basis and are illegal.

Your Honor;

The prosecutor has characterized my posts as “posts subject to the crime.” Is there a judicial decision regarding which of my posts is a crime that the prosecutor makes such a claim? First of all, if the posts repeated in the indictment are not counted, there are 32 posts I am accused of.

It has been determined by a judicial decision that the X post of Oğuzhan Kumpınar, which I reshared, is not a crime.

Ramin Saeidi was acquitted in the case involving the two X posts he shared on AmbargoTV. It can no longer be claimed that these are crimes.

Those who made posts regarding the X posts of Uğur Batur and Emir Kosif, which I reshared without comment, were not accused, so why should I be accused? There are 27 posts remaining that belong to me. 2 of these 27 posts were made after the events. They cannot have incited the events in Kayseri. In summary, the prosecution can technically say that 25 of my posts incited the Kayseri events. No legal proceedings were taken regarding any of these 25 X posts until the investigation stage of this case. If they were crimes, a lawsuit would have been filed for all of them by now. Now I will explain these 25 X posts to you one by one.

1) On April 18, 2020, while Ümit Özdağ was an IYI Party deputy, he shared a news item from an internet newspaper by quoting it, saying “Syrians are being sold land in Hatay,” with the headline “Hatay Metropolitan Mayor Lütfü Savaş reacted: Syrians have started buying land suitable for planting.” 4 years and 2 months before the Kayseri events. The statement is the statement of the then Hatay Metropolitan Mayor. There is no accusation, no provocation. There is a situation assessment. The prosecution says, “The Hatay Governorship denied this.” The Hatay Governorship's denial does not mean the news is false. The Governorship is not a judicial authority. The statement also has no legal value. How can the Kayseri events be incited with this X post?

2) On August 4, 2020, while Ümit Özdağ was an IYI Party deputy, he made a post saying “Syrians' vehicles are being inspected for free.” This was social media information and was circulating among the public. The post was made 3 years and 10 months before the Kayseri events. It does not contain hatred or hostility; it criticizes the government's policy. The prosecution says, “The Ministry of Interior denied it.” The Ministry of Interior's denial has no legal value. Also, the first inspection was paid, the second was free.

3) On April 3, 2021, Ümit Özdağ made a post saying “Syrians do not commit crimes, a big lie. The Syrian mafia is growing day by day.” In the days when the X post was made, the claim that Syrians commit fewer crimes than Turks was being put forward by government members and pro-government pens. It does not contain hatred or hostility. It is a matter of curiosity with what logic the prosecution has included a comment expressing a concrete fact, posted 3 years and 2 months before the Kayseri events, under the concept of “hatred and hostility.”

4) On October 26, 2021, 3 years before the Kayseri events, the statement “It is known by the Turkish people what a heavy economic, political, cultural, and geopolitical burden the 5.3 million Syrian refugees living in our country are for Turkey. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to say that they have responded positively to the compassion shown to them by the Turkish people. Against the complaint of a Turk, which I think is quite justified, it has emerged that Syrian refugees, who started a banana campaign in the media, do not love our country and do not like the Turkish people at all. The Zafer Party is starting a signature campaign, and the purpose of this signature campaign is to get the support of the Turkish people for the return of Syrians to Syria. We do not love those who do not love us. We promise to do our best for them to return to their countries as soon as possible,” which was shared as a video from the Zafer Party X account, was seen as a crime of hatred and hostility. The prosecution has classified a political party's democratic right to collect signatures as hatred and hostility. This is also not legally or conscientiously acceptable.

5) The prosecution evaluated the expression “Look, many Syrian women work as prostitutes in Turkey. Let's go out to Taksim immediately and walk together. Many Syrian children are preparing to become mafia, members of Salafi organizations, members of Arab nationalist organizations in the future of Turkey,” used by Ümit Özdağ in a video interview on January 18, 2022, as inciting the public to hatred and hostility. Many reports have been published regarding Syrian women working in the sex industry in Turkey. Ümit Özdağ's statement is not an accusation, but an assessment of a negative development. He is warning about the future regarding Syrian youth. There is no criminal element legally.

6) On May 5, 2022, Ümit Özdağ, as the Zafer Party Chairman and deputy, made a post 2 years and 1 month before the Kayseri events, saying “The Zafer Party warns. The wrong refugee policy is dragging Turkey into a disaster. You have filled Turkey with 10 million people, including all kinds of perverts, under the name of the Ummah. If a disaster has not occurred until today, it is because of the nobility and patience of the Turkish Nation. However, every patience has an end.” This is a criticism of the AK Party's open border policy. There is not even the expression Syrian. However, the prosecutor thought that this X post incited the Kayseri events.

7) On May 18, 2022, 2 years and 2 months before the Kayseri events, Ümit Özdağ had a phone conversation with journalist Sedat Aral, who works in London and has a well-deserved reputation as a war correspondent in the Middle East for 30 years. Sedat Aral told him his impressions and concerns. Ümit Özdağ wanted this information to be known by the security and intelligence authorities of the Republic of Turkey. By adding Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu and MIT President Hakan Fidan, he made a post saying “I spoke with S.A, who has been a war correspondent in the Middle East, Pakistan, and Afghanistan for 30 years yesterday. He toured our southern provinces 1 month ago and said he expects very serious events within 6 months. He told about his observations in Afghanistan - Iraq - Syria. Listen to the recording of the Soylu/Fidan WhatsApp conversation, talk to S.A.” It is unbelievable, but the prosecutor interpreted this X post, which Ümit Özdağ shared to attract the attention of the state's two highest-level security officials, as the X post that incited the Kayseri events. Ümit Özdağ did not only make this X post regarding this issue. He also called the governor of the relevant province on the phone and conveyed what Sedat Aral told him. While Ümit Özdağ was fighting for the security of our country, the prosecutor called the relevant issue incitement.

8) On May 22, 2022, Ümit Özdağ made an X post saying “They harass as if they are walking, breathing, drinking water. They don't think what they are doing is wrong. They think Turkish women deserve this because of their clothes. If this continues, a father will pull out a gun and shoot. Then don't say the Zafer Party incited it. You filled them in.” The prosecutor says this X post incited the events that broke out in Kayseri 2 years and 1 month later.

9) On May 23, 2022, Ümit Özdağ made an X post as the Zafer Party Chairman and deputy. He shared a video. In the video, he says “Turkey has been under a migration wave exceeding 10 million between 2011-2022 and the migration is not over yet... Our country is becoming more insecure every day. In Gebze, an Afghan who came via Iran crushed and killed Ayşegül with a stone because she resisted being molested. Our women are being harassed on the streets by fugitives coming from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu, who is tasked with protecting the borders, says “Let's send the Afghans, Pakistanis. Who will do the shepherding, who will work in certain places. I will see the businessmen then. They will say, 'Don't go, I'll increase your salary'.” The Minister of Interior, who should protect the honor of the Turkish Nation, defended not our women who were harassed, but the behavior of the harassers in a television program. “Syrians are taking all the X-rays. I mean, now I'm taking a selfie. If you were ill-intentioned, if there was a woman behind me when I took a selfie, if I published the selfie, it would be 'look, he is X-raying this woman',” says Süleyman Soylu. The Turkish Nation, on the other hand, is watching the silent invasion of its country in a tense and angry manner.” There is no incitement here. A political party chairman and deputy is criticizing the consequences of the government's open border policy. The prosecutor, on the other hand, redefines the freedom of thought section of the Constitution and interprets this matter as a crime.

10) Süleyman Soylu makes a statement as the Minister of Interior. The prosecutor says “TBMM member Süleyman Soylu” in the indictment. The statement of Soylu, who was the Minister of Interior when he made this statement, is as follows: “We are not talking empty. We are producing solutions! 62,145 briquette houses have been completed in Idlib for the honorable, voluntary, and safe return of our Syrian brothers. The target by the end of the year is 100,603 briquette houses.” Ümit Özdağ, taking this X post of Süleyman Soylu, brought it to the agenda with the information given to him by an employee of the Ordu Governorship, saying; “They sent letters to the governorships and asked them to transfer resources from the provincial budgets for these houses. The Ordu Governorship transferred 8 million TL, which should have been spent for the people of Ordu, to Syria. Before the election, they will send some Syrians to Idlib for show purposes and feed them there,” he posted on August 6, 2022. What is criticized here is the AK Party's wrong refugee policy. The prosecutor says the Ordu governorship denied this statement of Ümit Özdağ. Not entirely true. The Ordu Governorship made the statement “We collected the money from NGOs and sent it.” The truth can only emerge with Court of Accounts reports. There is no Kayseri in this post either; there is no inciting the public to hatred and hostility.

11) On August 13, 2022, a fellow citizen who called Ümit Özdağ from Gaziantep conveyed an incident he saw to him, saying “In Gaziantep Karataş neighborhood, a girl is walking on the street, listening to music with headphones in her ears. A car approaches from behind and wants to pull her in. The girl resists, citizens intervene while they are trying to put her in the car. The Gendarmerie passing by sees the situation and takes the Syrian. The prosecutor arrests him,” and the post is made. This post was denied by the Gaziantep Governorship. They said the incident was in another neighborhood and the harasser was Turkish. However, Ümit Özdağ believes his friend from Gaziantep who called him and experienced the incident. There is no inciting the public to hatred and hostility in this “storytelling” either.

12) On September 22, 2022, while news that refugee and fugitive Syrians started forest fires was being published in all press organs between Turkey and Greece, Ümit Özdağ made the post “While the tension between Turkey and Greece is at its peak, refugees are starting forest fires” on X. The Minister of Interior denied this news. The denial does not mean that this information is false, nor does it have anything to do with inciting the public to hatred and hostility.

13) On November 22, 2022, Ümit Özdağ made a post saying “6 Afghan attackers who came to a gas station in Konya Argıthanı sent 2 Turkish employees to the hospital. Allegedly, they did this in front of the Gendarmerie. The beaten Turkish workers were told 'Don't get involved in the fact that the attackers are Afghan.' The detained Afghans were released.” The information regarding this post was reported to Ümit Özdağ by those who witnessed the incident by phone to complain about the Gendarmerie. Ümit Özdağ also shared it by saying “allegedly.” The Konya Governorship Press, Publication and Public Relations Directorate denied the X post. Considering that the Gendarmerie is affiliated with the Governorship, logically they would not accuse themselves. However, the subject of this X post is not Kayseri, nor is it Syrians. It is not hatred, it is not enmity.

14) On December 11, 2022, Ümit Özdağ shared a fictional video from his X account, saying “There is a terrible nightmare scenario planned for the Turkish Nation. It is time to wake up so as not to live this nightmare... Great Turkish Nation, remember that; 'Sleeping nations either die or wake up as captives.'” This video aims to raise awareness among the public so that a similar civil war, which broke out as a result of conspiracies experienced in the last 20 years in Iraq and Syria, the two neighboring countries, does not happen to our country. The prosecutor ignores the expressions in this fiction about how Turkey defends itself with determination. Yet the message of the video is “don't try, we won't allow it.” It is unbelievable, but the prosecutor characterizes even a fictional video as inciting the public to hatred and hostility.

15) Ümit Özdağ (in the February 6, 2023 earthquake) went to the region personally and started to share what the public told him in the earthquake zone via X. On February 8, 2023, he made a post saying “Lootings carried out predominantly by refugees are becoming widespread, jewelry stores are being looted. Gold necklaces and bracelets are common among women in the region. Gold jewelry has started to be stolen from corpses left under the rubble. Some people have started to keep watch with guns.” It is stated in this X post that looting is not only carried out by refugees. “Predominantly” means “the majority” and does not mean only refugees. Moreover, there is no enmity, hatred, or attack against refugees in this X post either. There is only a situation assessment. It should not be overlooked that this situation assessment is also a situation that is talked about in the entire public opinion and has later entered the case files.

16) The post made on February 10, 2023, “From the first moment of the biggest disaster Turkey has experienced, refugees and fugitives are looting the cities. This is called dishonor! You are the one who brought this trouble upon us @RTErdogan and they will go and you will go too,” is not hatred against Syrians, but a clear criticism of R.T. Erdoğan's refugee policy.

17) The prosecution has included in the indictment not only Ümit Özdağ's posts but also his resharing of X posts for which no investigation has been initiated by the press prosecutor's office or any judicial authority, seeing them as a crime. The post made from the Zafer Party account on February 10, 2023, “While our nation is concerned for its life, refugees and fugitives are looting the tents, clothes, and food sent to earthquake victims. It's not enough, they are looting jewelry stores and even corpses. #ShootOrder must be given against looters now,” is only making a situation assessment and is calling for the use of weapons in necessary cases to stop the looting, taking into account the additional article 2 of the Anti-Terror Law No. 3713, paragraph b of article 3 and article 23 of the State of Emergency Law for the purpose of public order and the restoration of disrupted public order.

18) On March 5, 2023, 1 year and 4 months before the Kayseri events, Ümit Özdağ made a post saying “Seeing that the tension experienced with Syrians in the earthquake zone could turn into a conflict, the Migration Administration directed Syrians to our western provinces, especially Istanbul. 600 thousand Syrians came to Istanbul and western provinces. I explained this issue with documents.” It is a fact that Syrians and Turks went to regions not affected by the earthquake after the earthquake. Turks do not need permission to go. Refugees, on the other hand, need legal permission. Ümit Özdağ also shared this situation with the public by publishing the permission documents. It is impossible to understand how this issue can be claimed to be hatred and hostility. There is no criminal element here either.

19) The prosecution saw Ümit Özdağ's saying “We want a SHOOT order for looters” to the post of the Zafer Party Kayseri Provincial Presidency on March 7, 2022 (The prosecution recorded it as 2023) as inciting the public to hatred and hostility. It is unbelievable. The prosecutor has determined even the mere request of a political party chairman and deputy for a measure regulated by law to be taken against looting as a crime.

20) The prosecution saw Ümit Özdağ's X post dated March 9, 2022 (The prosecution said 2023) “Cold earthquake and Syrian looting in İskenderun” as hostility. As can be clearly seen from the content of the conversations in the video, Ümit Özdağ's X post is a transfer of what the earthquake victims experienced. “Woman 1: They blew up the markets. Instead of buying what they needed, they bought televisions. And we ask, brother, where are you taking them? A gift for my mother-in-law. Man, there is no house, people don't have a house, you are worried about televisions. Man: They take 7-8 at a time, you are not the only ones. There are a lot of families. Woman 2: He takes it, sends his other child from behind from Syria, sends his son, sends her husband. Woman 3: They are crowded anyway. In droves, it's not enough for us. Ümit Özdağ: Hopefully we will send them all to their homelands. Man: We only trust you, chairman.” There is no criminal element in this post either. (X was posted on February 8, 2023.)

21) The prosecutor included a question asked to Ümit Özdağ and his answer at the Zafer Party Aydın Provincial Presidency meeting on July 3, 2022, in the indictment. Namely; to the person who asked the question “If you come to power, you were constantly in Istanbul yesterday, I guess you are going back and forth, for example, we don't see many refugees here in Aydın, there are already between seven thousand and twelve thousand refugees as far as we know, what is the biggest threat these refugees can pose to the Republic of Turkey, the Turkish State, the Turkish Nation,” Ümit ÖZDAĞ said: “Civil war, civil war, there is nothing bigger than that, its economic cost has already exceeded one hundred billion dollars, we are paying the price every day, our streets are becoming insecure, gangs are forming, but in the end, a civil war will break out, what percentage probability, ninety-nine, no, one hundred percent. The issue is when it will happen, yes.” There is no incitement or hostility in this answer. There is a desire to expose and warn the public due to a conspiracy established by imperialism in our country with strategic migration engineering. There is no criminal element legally.

22) Ümit Özdağ shared a video on his Instagram account on November 8, 2022, and made the statement “Are you really proud of this picture? Are you proud of the fact that you don't show the interest you don't show to Turkish children so that Syrians can be successful, that you allocate the university quota of Turkish youth to refugees, that you push Turkish children to hopelessness?” The prosecution also reflected this question and statement as hatred and hostility. Yet, there is a very clear criticism of the AK Party's policies. There is no criminal element here legally either.

23) On July 2, 2023, Ümit Özdağ shared an incident that took place in Kocaeli/Dilovası with his X post saying “Around 24.00 last night, a group of Syrians are hitting stray dogs with wood. The people of Dilovası who saw this intervene in the incident. Then the refugee group attacks the citizens' houses. Then a large group attacks them too. The police are intervening in the incident.” The purpose is to show how a simple incident can turn into a social polemic. The prosecution says the Kocaeli Governorship denied the incident, but Deputy Lütfü Türkkan states that he was personally in Dilovası to calm the events. The incident was even reflected in the TBMM. There are documents. It is not possible to talk about inciting the public to hatred and hostility here either.

24) On July 29, 2023, Ümit Özdağ, also sharing his video, said “The police carried out a suicide bomber operation in Hatay/Reyhanlı. It is stated that the terrorist detained is Syrian.” This is not his opinion/information. It has been shared in hundreds of places and a suicide bomber operation has been carried out. The images are there. The prosecution says the Center for Combating Disinformation denied this news. What did they deny? Did the police not carry out a suicide bomber operation in Reyhanlı? Or was the person caught not Syrian? It cannot be thought that such an X post incited the public to hatred and hostility.

25) The prosecution saw the question Ümit Özdağ asked the Social Security Institution via X on October 27, 2023, upon information conveyed to him, as inciting the public to hatred and hostility. Ümit Özdağ shared the translation “While the country is going through very bad days, due to the high inflation and the contradiction of living conditions, the SGK is providing 4600 TL support to citizens to help them and make their lives easier. Click here to register” and asked the SGK “Is this true?” The prosecution says the Center for Combating Disinformation denied this X post. We also learned that a question can be denied. It is hard to believe, but the prosecution thinks that this X post also incited the events that broke out in Kayseri on June 30, 2024, by Ümit Özdağ. There is no criminal element here either.

Your Honor;

None of these X posts incite the public to hatred and hostility according to TCK art. 216/1 and the precedents of the Court of Cassation. No accusation has been made regarding any of them, even though years have passed. The prosecution is not only violating the boundaries of the law, but also represents ruthlessness.

Your Honor;

We requested that the official report prepared by the Kayseri Provincial Security Directorate Cyber Crimes Branch Directorate, which contains the list of social media accounts that incited the Kayseri events, be included in the file. It is clear that my account or any official Zafer Party account, or even the account of any Zafer Party member, is not among these accounts. If it were, the Kayseri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office would have already initiated an investigation.

Your Honor;

The prosecution, which prepared the indictment by not putting the evidence in my favor and by obscuring the evidence in my favor; is now claiming that I am guilty because of my X posts that are not crimes and is asking for me to be punished. Of course, if your court gives a sentence based on this indictment and opinion, which will be a source of shame, it will go to the appellate court and the Court of Cassation. However, the issue I am curious about is what kind of psychology a legal professional, a prosecutor, has when they declare someone guilty even though they know the defendant is innocent. How can a person, a jurist, call someone they know is innocent guilty? Then how do they go home, put their head on the pillow, and sleep? Do they not fear God at all? God says, “Do not deviate from justice, even if it is against yourselves, your parents, and your relatives… If you deviate from justice or refrain from doing what is required of you, know that God is aware of what you do.” The prosecutor should know that God is aware of the injustice he has done, and so are the people. I am sure that the prosecutor will sooner or later experience God's divine justice.

Your Honor;

I know it is a very difficult case, a very difficult decision for you. I am here within the framework of a political investigation. If I were a pro-government politician, I would never have come before you. Even if I did, it would be very easy for you to give an acquittal decision. However, I am not pro-government and we are going through a period where this is a crime. Therefore, your job is not easy at all. I am sure there is great pressure on you. Everyone who knows you says that you are a good jurist. With the acquittal decision, which is the only fair decision you will make today, you will give the message to 86 million people, to the Turkish nation who are curiously waiting for the result of this case, that even if there is no independent judiciary in our country, there are independent judges, and you will enable people to hope for justice again.

You also saw how empty the evidence in the file and the indictment and the prosecutor's opinion are. In the decisions of the Court of Cassation, it says that the perpetrator must subjectively target hatred and hostility. Yet, I showed you the evidence of the statements I made to prevent hatred and hostility, and even the criminal complaints I made. The evidence I presented in my defense has shown you, in a way that will prevent any discussion, that I am a person who will not leave Turkey's security under threat. If we lived in a country where the judiciary was truly independent, I would not have been lying in prison for 149 days. We would not be having this conversation with you.

Your Honor;

I know that what I am asking of you is difficult. My lawyer stated that courage is not among the characteristics that judges should have. If we were a state of law, he would be right. I tell you not to be afraid, I tell you “do not fear anyone but God.” Since I know that there is a climate of fear and how pressure is exerted on judges, I also know how difficult it is when I tell you not to be afraid. When I tell you “do not be afraid,” I cannot say that I am in a position to stop the pressure on you for today if you give an acquittal decision. However, the acquittal decision you will give will be in accordance with the most basic principles of law and the Constitution and laws. May God help you."

WHAT HAPPENED?

Ümit Özdağ was detained in Ankara one day after his words “No Crusade that has taken place in the last thousand years has caused as much damage to the Turkish nation and the Turkish state as Erdoğan and the AK Party have” directed at AK Party Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at his party's Provincial Chairmen Consultation Meeting in Antalya on January 19.

Özdağ, who was brought to the Istanbul Security Directorate and then to the Istanbul Courthouse, was arrested on charges of “publicly inciting the public to hatred and hostility.”

FROM THE INDICTMENT

In the indictment, in which a prison sentence of 7 years, 10 months, and 15 days is requested for Özdağ, it was requested that “he be punished in accordance with articles 216/1, 218/1, 43 of the TCK corresponding to his act of Publicly Inciting the Public to Hatred and Hostility by Way of Press and Publication in a Chain Manner, that he be deprived of using the rights in article 53 of the TCK in case of conviction for a prison sentence for a crime he committed intentionally, that the periods he spent in custody and detention be deducted in accordance with article 63 of the TCK in case of the suspect's conviction, and that article 325 of the CMK No. 5271 be applied for the suspect.”

The indictment, which contains 28 posts of Özdağ between 2020 and 2024, also included his conversations with Ramin Saeidi, the user of the social media account named “Ambargotv,” who was arrested within the scope of another investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of 'inciting or insulting the public to hatred and hostility.'

Özdağ's file was separated on February 17. The first hearing of this file, in which a lawsuit was filed against Özdağ with a request for up to 4 years and 8 months in prison on charges of “insulting the President,” was held on April 29 at the Istanbul 35th Criminal Court of First Instance in Çağlayan.

FIRST STATEMENTS FROM ÖZDAĞ

Ümit Özdağ, who was released from Silivri Prison, appeared before the cameras for the first time in months. Conveying the difficult process he went through, Ümit Özdağ made the following statements:

I thank all my Zafer Party brothers here for 149 days in the cold, in the snow, in the winter, under the sun. This was a watch for democracy and the rule of law. Yes, I was released today. But I was released after being sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison. Even though there was no evidence regarding the crime I was accused of, a sentence was allocated before the eyes of the whole world. The Turkish People did not approve of this decision in their conscience. And we have experienced the concrete proof of how this decision is used to suppress the opposition. None of our constitutional and legal rights are safe. A Turkey where everyone is an equal citizen in this country needs to be built again.

EKREM İMAMOĞLU QUESTION

Responding to the question of whether he met with IMM Mayor and CHP Presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, Özdağ said, ''It is not possible for us to meet with each other in prison conditions. We only greeted Mr. Ekrem during lawyer meetings, but other than that, we did not have a meeting.''

News Source: 12punto