Access blocked to reports on presidential advisor's fake high school diploma

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Access to reports about a court decision concluding that the high school diploma of a senior presidential advisor was fake has been blocked on the grounds of "violation of personal rights."

The Bakırköy 1st Penal Court of Peace blocked access to 125 web addresses containing the information, including a Twitter post by a main opposition party MP, EngelliWeb, a group monitoring internet censorship, reported yesterday (December 28).

Hamza Yerlikaya, a retired national wrestler, served as an MP from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He currently holds multiple positions in the government, being a senior adviser to the president, a deputy of the minister of youth and sports and the vice-chair of the management board of the state-run Vakıfbank.

MP Engin Özkoç from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) posted the blocked video on Twitter again.

"Hamza Yerlikaya, did you get the diploma issued on behalf of Imrahor Vocational High School and enroll in Gazi University Sports School? You did. Have you been taken to court for this? You have been. Have you been found guilty? You have been found guilty," Özkoç says in the video.

He asked Yerlikaya how he could be elected an MP, become an advisor to the president, earn millions of liras as a board member of Vakıfbank and serve as a deputy minister as a person who was convicted of fraud and called on him to resign. (EKN/VK)