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İstanbul University has revoked the diploma of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a move that could prevent him from running in Turkey’s next presidential election. Under Turkish law, candidates for the presidency must hold at least a university degree.
Last month, İmamoğlu announced his candidacy in the Republican People’s Party (CHP) primary to determine the party’s presidential nominee.
İstanbul University convened to review İmamoğlu’s diploma status and later issued a statement announcing its cancellation. The university’s statement cited a report by Turkey’s Higher Education Supervisory Board, which found that İmamoğlu was among a group of students who were improperly admitted to the university’s Business Administration Faculty through a horizontal transfer process in 1990.
The university’s decision revoked the diplomas of 28 graduates, including İmamoğlu, citing "nullity" and "clear error" as the reasons for cancellation. It also confirmed that 10 students had previously had their records erased due to similar irregularities.
The university further stated that it would continue investigations into all past transfer admissions across its faculties and that all documents related to the decision had been sent to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Council of Higher Education (YÖK).
Investigations targeting İmamoğlu
Since taking office in 2019, İmamoğlu has faced multiple legal cases. In 2022, he was sentenced to a political ban and prison time for allegedly insulting members of the Supreme Election Council. That case remains under appeal.
More recently, he has been the subject of new investigations, including charges of attempting to influence the judiciary and allegedly making statements targeting counterterrorism officials. The first charge was filed after İmamoğlu revealed in January that the same expert witness had been involved in multiple investigations into CHP-run municipalities in İstanbul, including Beşiktaş and Esenyurt, whose mayors have been arrested and removed from office.
The terrorism-related investigation followed İmamoğlu's critical remarks about İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek, whom the CHP has widely criticized as being aligned with the government's agenda against political opponents."
(VK)
