Opposition mayor faces probe over his university degree

Türkiye has begun investigating allegations that Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, already the subject of a clutch of other legal proceedings, falsely obtained his university degree, said Saturday, reports The New Arab and agencies.

Imamoglu, who on Friday 21 February submitted his candidacy to stand for the social democratic Republican People’s Party (CHP) main opposition for the next presidential election, will be questioned on Wednesday over “falsification of an official document”, the official Anadolu news agency said.

The stakes are high for Imamoglu as, constitutionally, any presidential candidate must have a higher education degree. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced similar claims from opponents – which he denies. Regularly targeted by Erdogan, likewise a former mayor of Istanbul, Imamoglu was sentenced in December 2022 to a jail term of two years and seven months and banned from political activities for “insulting” members of Türkiye’s High Electoral Committee, a sentence he has appealed.
Full report on The New Arab site