Turkish party leader says his arrest is part of a crackdown on Erdogan's political opponents


FILE PHOTO: Umit Ozdag, leader of the nationalist Victory Party or Zafer Partisi, leaves his party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, May 19, 2023. REUTERS/Serdar Ozsoy/File Photo

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The leader of a Turkish nationalist party has said he was arrested and detained on political grounds as part of an opposition crackdown that contradicts the government's purported effort to boost democracy while ending a Kurdish militant insurgency.

Umit Ozdag, leader of the Victory Party and known for his fierce opposition to the presence of millions of Syrian migrants in Turkey, is currently in jail pending trial on charges of insulting President Tayyip Erdogan and inciting hatred.

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