Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that a university violated a transgender man’s right to privacy by refusing to reissue his diploma with his updated name and gender, the Bianet news website reported.
The court found by a majority vote that the refusal violated the right of the applicant, identified only by the initials E.D., to respect for private life under Article 20 of the Turkish Constitution.
In its March 5 ruling, published in the Official Gazette on Friday, the court said information about E.D.’s previous name and gender fell within the scope of his private life and that the authorities and lower courts had failed to adequately explain why refusing to issue a new diploma was necessary and proportionate.
E.D., who graduated from Bartın University in 2014, legally changed his name and gender marker in 2016. The university refused to issue a new diploma reflecting the changes, saying its regulations did not allow it and offered instead to add a note to the existing document.
E.D. challenged the university’s decision in the Zonguldak Administrative Court, arguing that using a diploma with his former identity information would reveal his transgender status and interfere with his private life. The administrative court rejected his case, finding that the university had acted in accordance with its regulations. The Ankara Regional Administrative Court also rejected his appeal.
The Constitutional Court cited a 2021 ruling in a similar case by the Council of State, which found that failing to issue a diploma reflecting a person’s updated identity information could violate fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly the right to privacy.
The court sent a copy of the ruling to the Zonguldak Administrative Court for the case to reconsidered in order to remedy the violation.
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has increasingly portrayed LGBTQ+ visibility as a threat to public morality and family values. Government officials have for years restricted Pride marches and publicly targeted LGBTQ+ advocacy.
Turkey was ranked 47th out of 49 countries in the 2025 Rainbow Index, an annual assessment of LGBTQ+ rights published by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)-Europe, placing it among the bottom five in Europe.
