Turkish prosecutors have filed a new indictment against jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, accusing him of falsifying his university degree more than three decades ago, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The indictment, completed this week, accuses İmamoğlu of multiple counts of official document forgery and alleges that he unlawfully acquired his diploma. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of up to eight years, nine months as well as a political ban that would prevent him from holding public office.
İmamoğlu, the presidential nominee of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), is currently being held in Marmara Prison in Silivri, west of İstanbul, on corruption charges, widely viewed as politically motivated.
He was detained on March 19, one day after İstanbul University cancelled his diploma, and was later arrested, sparking widespread outrage among his supporters.
The latest indictment against the mayor centers on a diploma İmamoğlu received from İstanbul University’s Faculty of Business Administration after transferring from Girne American University in northern Cyprus. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office alleges the transfer was fraudulent and that the resulting degree is invalid.
On March 18 the university announced it had canceled İmamoğlu’s diploma, along with those of 28 others, citing “nonexistence” and “obvious error.” That same day, the university deleted his academic records from its system.
His lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, who is also currently in jail, said on May 6 that they had filed a lawsuit challenging the cancellation. According to the legal team, official notice of the annulment was not delivered until 55 days after the decision.
İmamoğlu was sentenced in 2022 to nearly three years in prison and given a political ban for allegedly “insulting” members of Turkey’s Supreme Election Board, a sentence he has appealed.
His arrest took place amid mounting pressure on his party following his election victory in the local elections of 2024, dealing a heavy blow to Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The ongoing crackdown on the CHP, which resulted in the arrest and removal from office of many of its mayors in addition to the arrest of dozens of city officials in İstanbul and elsewhere, is seen by many as an attempt by Erdoğan to discredit the party and sideline İmamoğlu as his strongest political rival.