Hundreds implicated in fake diploma scandal in Turkey.
These days, a new bombshell has exploded in Turkish newspapers and television channels, which has shaken not only many departments and ministries, but also the political establishment. It has been revealed that a large network of criminals, by infiltrating government departments and obtaining the passwords for using the electronic signatures of senior officials, has been able to issue hundreds of illegal educational certificates.
This issue is important because not long ago, a council formed at the request of the Turkish judiciary declared the method of equivalence of the educational certificates of former Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu illegal and invalidated his certificate.
As a result, this powerful rival of Erdogan cannot run in the upcoming presidential elections. However, it has now been revealed that a significant number of officials who have issued illegal educational certificates and associate professor and full professor certificates are people close to the government and the Justice and Development Party.
Therefore, Turkish analysts have concluded that a part of the political establishment in this country has become corrupt to gain access to sources of power, wealth, and administrative positions, and this has also damaged the legitimacy of the government.
Since the academic position of “full professor” or professor in Turkish universities and executive institutions has significant financial benefits, more than four hundred customers of the fraud network are people whose doctorates are real but who have paid money to be promoted to associate professor and full professor!
Professor Dr. Erol Ozvar, the chairman of the Turkish Higher Education Council, announced that 65 of the 400 defendants have been determined and face prison sentences ranging from 5 to 50 years.