Nacho Sánchez Amor, the European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey, has sharply criticized a Turkish court’s decision to reject jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s appeal against the annulment of his university diploma, arguing that the case is “purely political,” Turkish Minute reported.
In a post on X, Amor said the Turkish judiciary was “not afraid of appearing before the legal profession and the world as ridiculously biased and unprepared,” arguing that the so-called “diploma case” had no legal basis. He added that the judges’ own diplomas should be reviewed.
The İstanbul 5th Administrative Court on Friday unanimously rejected İmamoğlu’s lawsuit challenging İstanbul University’s decision to revoke his undergraduate diploma, bringing the case to a close at first instance.
İmamoğlu’s legal challenge concerning the revocation of his diploma was filed on May 6, 2025, by his lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, who was later arrested as part of a broader investigation targeting the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality. A request to halt the implementation of the annulment had already been rejected in July.
On May 22 the administrative court sent a formal request to İstanbul University, asking it to submit the information and documents forming the basis of the diploma annulment decision.
In a development that attracted criticism from opposition figures and legal observers, the Council of Judges and Prosecutors reassigned the presiding judge and a member of the panel hearing the case under its June 20, 2025, summer decree, appointing a new judicial panel in their place.
The first hearing in the case was held on January 15 in a courtroom inside the Marmara Prison complex west of İstanbul, where İmamoğlu has been held since March. After the hearing, the court on Friday ruled that the annulment should stand.
In its reasoned decision, the panel cited constitutional provisions and rulings by the Council of State, concluding that İmamoğlu had acted without good faith and with full awareness during the transfer process that led to his graduation. The court said the path to appeal before a higher administrative court remains open.
Access bans increase fallout over diploma ruling
The court decision came amid broader restrictions on online discussion of the case. According to the Freedom of Expression Association’s (İFÖD) censorship watchdog EngelliWeb, news reports and social media posts concerning İstanbul University Rector Osman Bülent Zülfikar were blocked earlier this week on grounds of “national security and public order,” under a decision by the İstanbul 1st Criminal Court of Peace.
Zülfikar heads the public institution that annulled İmamoğlu’s diploma and was appointed to the post by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after he cancelled the intra-university elections that used to be held to elect university rectors, in a controversial move in October 2016. Zülfikar has since established his own team, with his brother Haluk Zülfikar, an academic at the same university, appointed as his chief advisor.
Reacting to Friday’s ruling, İmamoğlu said on X that the decision reflected a politicized judiciary and vowed to continue the legal fight. “My diploma … was seized by means of an open injustice,” he said, adding that those responsible would bear responsibility for the damage done to the rule of law.
İstanbul University annulled the diplomas of 28 people on March 18, 2025, including that of İmamoğlu, citing alleged irregularities in transfers made in 1990 from Girne American University in northern Cyprus to the university’s business administration program. The university said the diplomas were void due to “nullity” and “clear error.”
In Turkish law “nullity” means that an act is considered never to have legally come into existence.
A university degree is a requirement for presidential candidates under Turkish law, making the outcome of the diploma case critical for İmamoğlu, who is widely seen as President Erdoğan’s strongest political rival ahead of the next national election.
Prosecutors say the northern Cyprus school was not recognized at the time by Turkey’s Council of Higher Education (YÖK) and accuse İmamoğlu of multiple counts of “forgery of official documents” in a separate criminal case. He faces between two-and-a-half and nine years in prison and a possible political ban.
İmamoğlu was detained at his home on March 19 and later jailed in a separate corruption investigation that opposition parties say is politically motivated.
