Jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has told a court that prosecutors pressured İstanbul University into annulling his university diploma last year, decades after it was issued, claiming that the move was politically timed to block his presidential bid, Turkish Minute reported, citing Deutsche Welle Turkish service.
İstanbul University annulled the diplomas of 28 people on March 18, 2025, including İmamoğlu’s, 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,” describing an act that is considered to have never legally come into existence, and “clear error.”
In Turkish law, “nullity” means that an act is considered never to have legally come into existence.
The first hearing in İmamoğlu’s lawsuit challenging the annulment of his diploma was held on Thursday in a courtroom inside the Marmara Prison complex west of İstanbul, where he has been held since March. The case is being heard by the İstanbul 5th Administrative Court.
The jailed mayor accused the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of openly pressuring the university to move quickly against him. Referring to a letter sent by prosecutors to İstanbul University on February 24, 2025, he said the message amounted to a threat.
“They are effectively saying: ‘This person could become a presidential candidate at any moment with this diploma. Hurry up,’” İmamoğlu told the court.
“Can a prosecutor write to a university and say, ‘This person may run for office, cancel his diploma’? That is not authority — that is intimidation carried out through the judiciary.”
Ahead of the hearing, tensions briefly flared outside the courtroom when gendarmes blocked entry to the hall due to capacity limits.
According to the Anka news agency, security forces used batons to push back a crowd that included members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) seeking to enter the courtroom.
The court had earlier ruled to move the hearing to the prison facility, citing the limited capacity of the courthouse, the lack of a functioning microphone system and the absence of appropriate arrangements for a detained defendant.
İmamoğlu attended the hearing accompanied by his lawyers and was brought into the courtroom to the applause of observers.
Addressing the court, İmamoğlu said his transfer application had been fully reviewed by the university at the time, with individual courses examined and exemptions clearly determined. He said all related documentation had been submitted to the court.
“This is my diploma,” he said. “And today they say the university will take it back. Absolutely not. This diploma is an official state document issued by İstanbul University after review, investigation and assessment, entirely of its own will. It was considered valid for decades and accepted by all state institutions.”
He questioned why authorities had remained silent for more than 30 years before acting, saying the decision came only after he declared his intention to run for president. “I have to ask, why did the administration suddenly act only after my candidacy was announced?” he said.
Under Turkish law, a university degree is a requirement for presidential candidates, making the outcome of the diploma case critical for İmamoğlu, who is widely seen as President Recep Tayyip 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 seperate criminal case. He faces between two-and-a-half and eight years, nine months 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.
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 the broader investigation targeting the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
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 new panel later rejected İmamoğlu’s request to suspend the execution of the diploma annulment decision, clearing the way for the case to be heard on the merits.
Journalist Furkan Karabay reported on social media that İmamoğlu concluded his defense by warning of the broader consequences of the ruling.
“This decision will show whether the law operates according to principles or according to individuals,” İmamoğlu said, according to Karabay’s post. “I did not flee from the judiciary. I am not fleeing today, and I will not flee tomorrow. But I will continue to resist the instrumentalization of the law.”
The court is expected to issue its decision within 15 days after the hearing.
