In Turkey, you can buy almost any fake - from a driver's license to a gun permit. A recent scandal has shown that fraudsters are selling fake diplomas to senior civil servants, writes "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
"How can some people be annoyed by the fact that a person is getting an education?“, asked the visibly embarrassed Turkish Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Ömer Fatih Sayan, tells "Süddeutsche Zeitung“ (ZT) with the explanation that the person who has so sharply educated himself is himself. From the ministry's website, it can be established that even before he turned 30, Sayan already had six bachelor's, two master's and two doctoral degrees. He also had a dozen other certificates, and spoke three foreign languages.
Erdogan does not like anyone to damage the image of the government
The German media notes that Turkey is not a country where people hold back their sarcasm when it comes to the government. Media commentator Selim Koru, for example, estimates that the minister would need at least half a century to acquire so many diplomas. Sayan, for his part, replied that he was not obliged to give explanations. However, it is known that President Erdogan does not like anyone to damage the image of the government. However, this case is exactly that, and the damage is enormous, the German publication writes.
At the same time, Sayan is by no means the only one - many are being accused of having fake university degrees. The scandal surrounding Sayan is the biggest, but apparently there are hundreds of fraudsters who have managed to penetrate the digital state administration. There they forge documents using fake digital signatures, explains ZC. In Turkey, you can buy almost anything - from a driver's license to medical certificates to weapons permits.
According to the German publication, about 400 people have obtained a higher education without qualifications, and the stories that are told resemble a farce: a person who had never studied rose to the position of rector of a university; another bought a diploma saying that he graduated in history. It seems that anyone who can afford it can buy anything, points out ZC.
There is no way to check which diploma is real
The publication quotes a Turkish journalist, according to whom the government has created a real “virus“ and explains: if the “E-Devlet“ application, which Turks use to settle their administrative problems, says that someone has graduated, it becomes official. And there is no way to know whether the person in question really studied law or medicine, or whether he paid for his degree.
The government has reacted - almost 200 arrest warrants have already been issued because of the forged diplomas, and in some cases the sentences are long. The people need to know that the scandal has consequences. And there are two reasons why people are so excited, the Center points out. First - Erdogan constantly promises that the poor will also have access to education. He ordered the construction of faculties even in small towns in Anatolia, and the quota of university graduates among people between 25 and 34 years old has reached 45 percent, which is far more than in the pre-Erdogan era. However, many, especially his opponents, do not trust the new universities, whose degrees pave the way for the president's supporters to government positions. These universities are believed to not provide good quality education at all. The possibility of buying diplomas only makes things worse, the German publication notes.
The political element in the scandal
Secondly, it was Erdogan who accused his most prominent political opponent, Ekrem İmamoğlu, the arrested mayor of Istanbul, of having his diploma invalid. Istanbul University felt pressured and took away İmamoğlu's diploma, which he needed to run for president. As ZT recalls, this was one of the important reasons for the protests of Turkish students: what if one day they take away our diplomas too?
Perhaps Ömer Fatih Sayan also asked himself this question in his youth, the German publication continues. At least, that is what those who do not believe that he became a lawyer, engineer and economist at the same time think. And columnist Selim Koru wrote under a photo of Sayan: “His mother should be proud of him“.