The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has denied a report by the pro-government Sabah newspaper which claimed that prosecutors had requested the cancellation of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s university degree, the ANKA news agency reported on Wednesday.
The prosecutor’s office clarified that it only requested documents from İstanbul University as part of its ongoing investigation into allegations that İmamoğlu falsely obtained his university degree.
The investigation into İmamoğlu, who is already facing multiple legal proceedings, began just a day after he submitted his candidacy for the presidency under the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
According to ANKA, the prosecutor’s office sent an official letter to the university asking for records related to the mayor’s transfer from Girne American University in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) to İstanbul University in 1990 as well as the names of the officials responsible for approving it. The request also sought the names of other students who may have been granted similar transfers.
The prosecutor’s office asked İstanbul University to clarify whether administrative procedures related to transfer quotas, announcements and approvals were conducted in accordance with regulations.
Murat Ongun, an adviser to İmamoğlu, also dismissed the allegations in a post on X, saying, “The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office did not request the cancellation of İmamoğlu’s diploma. The office simply asked for documents from the university.”
The mayor’s lawyers refuted the allegations regarding his diploma as baseless and politically motivated during a press conference at İstanbul City Hall on Tuesday, maintaining that the transfer was conducted in full compliance with the regulations in place at the time.
They clarified that while Girne American University was recognized by the Higher Education Board (YÖK) in 1991, its campus in Girne, or Kyrenia, was not. They argued that the recognition requirement for transfers was introduced only in 1996 — six years after İmamoğlu’s transfer — and could not retroactively affect the legality of his move.
Under Turkey’s constitution, presidential candidates must hold a degree in higher education. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has faced similar claims from opponents, which he has denied.
In response to allegations raised by a journalist, the İstanbul Municipality published a photocopy of İmamoğlu’s business administration diploma, which he received from İstanbul University in 1995.
The university degree controversy emerged as part of a broader political battle surrounding İmamoğlu, who first gained control of Turkey’s largest city from Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2019 and was re-elected last year. He is currently the subject of five other investigations, two of which were opened last month.
Regularly targeted by Erdoğan, who also served as İstanbul mayor, İmamoğlu was sentenced in December 2022 to nearly three years in prison and a political ban for “insulting” members of Turkey’s High Electoral Board. He has appealed the ruling.
A vocal critic of Erdoğan, İmamoğlu last month denounced what he called judicial “harassment” after being questioned by an İstanbul court in another investigation related to his criticism of the city’s public prosecutor.