A prestigious Turkish university announced on Tuesday the cancellation of the university degree of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoğlu, following an investigation opened by the public prosecutor’s office in which Imamoğlu is accused of falsifying his university degree and committing fraud, in what represents a severe blow that could end his political aspirations to face Erdoğan for the Presidency of Turkey.
According to reports in the last few hours by the main media outlets in Turkey, the University of Istanbul has announced in a statement released through social networks that the degrees of 28 people, including the metropolitan mayor of Istanbul himself, ‘will be withdrawn and cancelled due to an obvious error’, after confirming that these degrees were obtained irregularly.
At the end of February, the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office announced the launch of an investigation against the mayor following a report issued by the Turkish Higher Education Council (YÖK) presenting evidence that the degree Imamoğlu holds was, in fact, obtained irregularly and therefore is false.
Imamoglu holds a degree from the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Istanbul, which he obtained in 1995, after being transferred in 1990 from the American University of Girne (Cyprus), where he lived for several years. As the report issued by YÖK stated, however, it is not possible that the current mayor validated his studies started in Cyprus and completed them until graduating from the University of Istanbul, since at that time YÖK did not recognise the degrees issued by the University of Girne, which makes it clear that İmamoğlu’s university degree is not only not valid but also had to be validated and obtained in a fraudulent way.
A severe blow to İmamoğlu’s aspirations to be President of Turkey
The still mayor of Istanbul testified before the prosecutor’s office on 5 March, and both he and his lawyers insisted on the authenticity of the university degree of the mayor of the Turkish metropolis; but investigators are wondering how İmamoğlu was able to transfer his studies from a private university in Cyprus not recognised then by any educational authority in Turkey to a prestigious university in Istanbul, and continue his career in the latter; it has been suggested that İmamoğlu may have had the help of influential political figures of the time with whom his family had connections, in order to obtain the degree.
Although the mayor is expected to appeal to the courts against the announcement made official in the last few hours by the University of Istanbul, the withdrawal of his university degree amid accusations of fraud represents a major blow to the future political career of Ekrem Imamoğlu.
Currently in his second term as mayor, in just a few days Imamoğlu was going to stand as the only candidate in the primary elections called by his party CHP (the main opposition party in Turkey) to choose the candidate for the presidential elections of 2028, in which he could face Erdoğan. Given that the Turkish Constitution requires a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic to be over 40 years of age and have a university degree, if the university’s decision is final, he will not be able to stand in the presidential elections.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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