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Is Erdogan's university diploma forged?

Allegations regarding the authenticity of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's diploma, and therefore his position, are gaining substance.

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his Justice and Development Party at the parliament in Ankara, June 25, 2013. The next year, he was elected president. — REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Questions about the legitimacy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's university diploma have been simmering for a while and now have the potential to become a major issue.

Erdogan went to an imam-hatip school, a high school-level institution that educates religious preachers. During the 1970s and 1980s, graduates of those schools could pursue their higher education only in theology. Erdogan, however, was thought to have graduated from Marmara University’s Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences; to have registered there, he would have needed a certificate to prove he was also educated at a school other than an imam-hatip school.

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