Turkish university revokes Imamoglu's degree, jeopardizing presidential bid
The decision came days before the primary to be held on Sunday, when the Istanbul mayor was highly likely to be chosen as the presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition party.
ANKARA — A Turkish university on Tuesday annulled the 31-year-old college degree of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a move that could potentially undermine his aspirations to run in the next presidential election in 2028, in which he is seen as one of the strongest challengers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Istanbul prosecutor’s office launched an investigation last month into allegations that Imamoglu’s 1990 transfer from a Turkish Cypriot college to Istanbul University’s business management department violated college transfer rules.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Istanbul University said that Imamoglu’s college degree was revoked along with 27 others in his class on the grounds of an alleged error in the transfer process.
“Annulment of the transfer decisions of 28 individuals, including the person mentioned [in the prosecutor's investigation], and revoking their graduations and diplomas … has been decided,” the statement read, without mentioning Imamoglu’s name.
