The diplomas of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and 27 others were removed from Turkey’s national higher education database after İstanbul University ruled their transfers to the school in 1990 were irregular, the Euronews Turkish edition reported.
The university informed other institutions that the undergraduate diplomas of the group had been canceled on March 18 and their graduate diplomas on July 24. The data has now been updated in the Higher Education Information System (YÖKSİS), according to a letter signed by acting İstanbul University rector Yahya Güldiken.
University officials cited “nullity” and “obvious error” as grounds for rescinding the degrees.
They say that İmamoğlu and others’ 1990 transfer from Girne American University in northern Cyprus to İstanbul University did not meet legal standards at the time.
Those affected include Galatasaray University business department chair Professor Aylin Ataay Saybaşılı, who is still in her post at the university, in addition to İmamoğlu, whose diploma was cancelled one day before he was detained, effectively disqualifying him from holding or running for public office.
Under Turkish law, candidates for president must have a university degree.
İmamoğlu, a senior member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and his party’s presidential candidate for the next election, was detained on March 19 and later arrested on corruption charges criticized as politically motivated. His arrest, widely seen as targeting the biggest political rival to longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2028 presidential election, sparked Turkey’s worst protests since 2013.
The university’s decision and letter concerning the update in YÖKSİS drew criticism from opposition figures.
Murat Emir, the parliamentary group deputy chair of the CHP, accused the government of political interference as he shared the university’s letter on social media. “They ignore fake diplomas obtained without ever attending university, while annulling the legitimate diplomas of Ekrem İmamoğlu and his classmates because he will run for president,” he wrote, targeting President Erdoğan and his government.
Ekrem İmamoğlu ile aynı sınıfta okudukları için suçlu ilan edilen 28 kişinin başka üniversitelerde binbir emekle aldığı lisans ve lisansüstü diplomalarını da iptal ettirmek için, İstanbul Üniversitesi Yönetim Kurulu bugün tüm üniversitelere yazı gönderdi!
Hiç üniversiteye… pic.twitter.com/kBRjxzcifX
— Murat Emir (@muratemirchp) August 13, 2025
The politician was referring to a recent nationwide scandal over an alleged digital forgery scheme that infiltrated Turkey’s e-government databases to create or alter academic and official documents, leading to two indictments against 199 people. The case, which has attracted intense public attention, allegedly targeted senior officials’ credentials and exposed security gaps in public institutions. No government official has taken responsibility or resigned so far.
İmamoğlu, who claims the cancellation of his 31-year-old degree is politically motivated and legally baseless, has already filed a lawsuit challenging İstanbul University’s decision to revoke his diploma.
Erdoğan himself faced accusations of lacking a legitimate university degree, with some people claiming that his degree was retroactively forged to look like he had the degree required to run for president.
İmamoğlu faces multiple investigations and has so far been convicted twice. Earlier in July a court sentenced him to 19 months in prison for insulting and threatening İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek. The sentence follows an earlier conviction in December 2022, when İmamoğlu was given two years, seven months in prison for allegedly calling members of Turkey’s top election board “fools.” The verdicts are currently under appeal.
Under Turkish law, if the sentences are upheld by an appeals court, İmamoğlu will be prohibited from holding public office.
The CHP has been under a harsh crackdown for about a year that has so far led to the arrest of 17 CHP mayors and dozens of party officials.