Opposition leader slams the university’s move as ‘unlawful’, saying it does not have the power to make the decision.
Turkiye’s Istanbul University has annulled Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s diploma, citing irregularities with Council of Higher Education regulations and threatening his chances of running in the 2028 presidential election.
The university said on Tuesday that 38 people, including Istanbul’s mayor, had irregularly transferred to its Management Faculty’s English-language programme in 1990.
It added that 10 of those with the irregularity had their transfer annulled, and the degrees of 28 graduates, including Imamoglu, “will be withdrawn and cancelled on the grounds of … obvious error”.
Imamoglu slammed the move as “unlawful” and promised to fight the decision in court.
“They [the university] do not have the authority to make such a decision. The authority lies solely with the Board of Directors of the Faculty of Business Administration.
“The days when those who made this decision will be held accountable before history and justice are near. The march of our nation, thirsty for justice, law and democracy, cannot be stopped.”
Murat Emir, a lawmaker from Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party, said the decision “dealt a heavy blow to our democracy”.
Musavat Dervisoglu, the opposition Good Party chairman, said the annulment was “beyond purging a political rival”.
2028 election
The ruling could hurt Imamoglu’s plans to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2028 election and came days before the opposition was expected to select Imamoglu as its presidential candidate.
Under the Turkish Constitution, presidential candidates must have a higher education degree.
Imamoglu, currently in his second term as the mayor of Istanbul, is the subject of multiple investigations and cases.
The vocal opponent of Erdogan in January slammed what he called “harassment” after leaving an Istanbul court for questioning as part of an open investigation on his criticism of the city’s public prosecutor.
In 2022, Imamoglu was sentenced to two years and seven months in jail and banned from political activities for “insulting” members of Turkiye’s High Election Council, a sentence that Imamoglu has appealed.