A Turkish court has refused to halt the enforcement of a decision to cancel the university diploma of suspended and arrested Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, state-run TRT Haber reported, BTA reports.
Imamoglu's lawyer had filed a request with the administrative court to halt the enforcement, but the court rejected the appeal. In its reasoning, the court cited a provision of the Criminal Procedure Code, according to which a trial can be terminated if there is both irreparable damage and obvious illegality of the administrative proceedings. The same provision also allows for suspension upon the expiration of the plaintiff's defense period.
The decision is subject to appeal within 7 days.
Imamoğlu's diploma was annulled by Istanbul University on March 18, 2025, due to the fact that his bachelor's degree was from a university in Northern Cyprus, which is not recognized by the Turkish Council of Higher Education. On July 24, 2025, the Institute of Social Sciences at Istanbul University also declared his master's degree invalid.
Amid the scandal, the prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into document forgery. The indictment has already been filed in court, and the prosecutor's office is demanding a sentence of between 2 years and 6 months and 8 years and 9 months in prison. The first hearing in the case is scheduled for September 11, 2025.
Imamoğlu was detained on March 19 on corruption charges. On March 23, the court extended his detention, and shortly afterwards the Istanbul City Council voted to temporarily remove him from the post of mayor. His detention led to a wave of protests across the country, described by analysts as the largest civil unrest in Turkey since 2013.
Ekrem İmamoğlu is seen as the main political opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He has already been announced as the candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) for the 2028 presidential election. However, the cancellation of his diploma in March 2025 poses a serious obstacle to his candidacy, as according to Turkish law, presidential candidates must have a valid university degree.