Istanbul University revokes Imamoğlu’s master’s degree

Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has had a second of his degrees revoked by Istanbul University, with the university on Monday night announcing that it had elected to cancel his master’s degree.

His bachelor’s degree had been revoked in March over a report which found that the university in northern Cyprus at which he began his studies before transferring to Istanbul was not adequately recognised.

At that time, Imamoglu was one of 28 people to have his degree revoked, with the university writing that it had revoked his degree on the strength of a report written by Turkey’s higher education council (Yok), though Monday night’s announcement appears to have only impacted Imamoglu.

According to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, the decision was taken on the grounds that with his bachelor’s degree having been cancelled, Imamoglu no longer fulfilled the requirements to have begun studying for a master’s degree.

Imamoglu is currently incarcerated at the Silivri prison, which is located in the west of the Istanbul province, having been sentenced to 20 months in prison earlier this month for “insulting and threatening” Istanbul chief public prosecutor Akin Gurlek.

He had in January accused Gurlek of targeting opposition political figures through “politically motivated” investigations.

Prior to that, he had been held in detention since March, when he was one of 106 people to be arrested in connection with Turkish police investigations into the alleged illegal awarding of tenders, bid rigging, fraud, and bribery.

His arrest sparked protests across Turkey, with Turkish nationals living in Cyprus also taking to the streets.

Days after his arrest, his party the CHP formally nominated him to be its candidate at Turkey’s next presidential election, which must be held before June 2028, and for which it is a requirement for all candidates to hold at least a bachelor’s degree.