Ankara, Turkey. Reports on Monday said Sakarya Mayor Yusuf Alemdar falsely claimed to have obtained a degree in Cyprus, according to a veteran journalist citing university archive checks.
Claim on municipality website challenged
The Sakarya municipality’s website states that Alemdar graduated with a degree in business administration from Famagusta’s Eastern Mediterranean University. Veteran journalist Levent Ozadam reported on Monday that this is not the case.
Ozadam said an academic at the university alerted him to the issue and researched the university’s archives, finding no record that Alemdar had studied at or obtained a degree from the university.
Political background and requests for comment
Alemdar belongs to Turkey’s ruling AK Party and was elected mayor for the first time at Turkey’s 2024 local elections. He won more than 100,000 votes fewer than his predecessor Ekrem Yuce, also of the AK Party, had in 2019 on a night described as historically good for opposition parties.
The Cyprus Mail said it contacted Eastern Mediterranean University and the north’s higher education accreditation institution, Yodak, but received no response.
Similar credential disputes in Turkish politics
Questions about mayors’ studies in Cyprus have previously been raised in Turkish politics. Istanbul University last year revoked the degree of the now suspended Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, citing that he began his university studies at Girne American University in Kyrenia.
The revocation was attributed to Turkey’s higher education council, Yok, deeming Girne American University not adequately recognised for him to later transfer to Istanbul.
Imamoglu sought to challenge the ruling at Istanbul’s fifth administrative court last month, but the court rejected his case.
Imamoglu’s legal status
Imamoglu was arrested one day after his degree was revoked and remains incarcerated at Silivri prison. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison in July last year for insulting and threatening Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor Akin Gurlek, after accusing him of targeting opposition political figures through what he described as politically motivated investigations.
He has also been charged with offences including forgery and leading a criminal organisation. If found guilty on all counts, he could face a sentence of more than 2,000 years.
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