Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Friday said the Turkish authorities would even deny the existence of northern Cyprus so as to be able to revoke his bachelor’s degree.
He was speaking in court at the Silivri prison, which is located in the west of the Istanbul province, during the first hearing of a trial over charges of document forgery he is facing in relation to the bachelor’s degree he obtained from Istanbul University, which was revoked earlier this year.
That degree had been revoked over the fact that Imamoglu had begun his university at the Girne American University in Kyrenia, which Turkey’s higher education council (Yok) deemed not to be adequately recognised for him to have been able to later transfer to Istanbul.
He was then arrested the following day 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.
On Friday, he arrived in court shaking his fist and calling on his supporters to “continue the fight”, before a judge told Imamoglu that he had “allegedly transferred to Istanbul University from a university which was unrecognised by Yok using forged documents”.
In response, he said, “I was 18 years old at the time, I truly wonder how I supposedly did that”, with a back-and-forth between him and the court carrying on.
At one point, he told the court that “these charges were not written by a prosecutor, but by the person I am going to beat at the next election”, in reference to the Turkish opposition’s belief that Imamoglu’s arrest was a political act undertaken by the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He then described his arrest as “a coup situation”, before adding, “I won four elections against him, and I will win the fifth as well”, in reference to the 2014 Beylikduzu mayoral election, the two 2019 Istanbul mayor elections, the first of which was annulled, and the 2024 Istanbul mayoral election.
He was later offered the chance to explain his position in more detail, layering his defence with sarcasm.
“It was clear when I was 18 years old that I would become president. Foreigners bought a university in Cyprus, took me in, and brought me here with their collaborators from Yok and from Istanbul University. This is the level of absurdity in this indictment. They would even say the TRNC does not exist to be able to revoke my degree,” he said.
He added, “I did not steal, I did not cheat, I did not commit forgery, and I did not sell the country piece by piece like a bad estate agent”, before saying that while he was in Cyprus, he had seen an advert offering the chance to transfer to Istanbul University.
“I met the requirements, I applied, I was accepted, I studied, and I graduated. What exactly is my crime, here?”
He referenced his time playing football as a goalkeeper for Turkish Cypriot football club Turk Ocagi Limasol, before speaking about the university in Kyrenia.
“That university was founded on [late Turkish Cypriot leader] Rauf Denktash’s suggestion. They are insulting the TRNC to revoke my degree. Do you not have any respect for Necmettin Erbakan or Bulent Ecevit?” he asked.
Ecevit was Turkish prime minister and Erbakan his deputy in 1974, when Turkey launched its invasion of Cyprus.
He pointed out that he constructed a memorial to Denktash in Beylikduzu, and said, “I am in love with Cyprus, by the way”, before the hearing wound to a close.
Imamoglu has been in detention since March, and was in July sentenced to 20 months in prison 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.
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.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel later claimed that the status of Cyprus was a key part of a deal brokered by Erdogan and United States President Donald Trump to allow the arrest of Imamoglu, and at the time referred to Imamoglu’s arrest as a “coup d’état” staged by Erdogan.
“Recep Tayyip Erdogan received the permission for the March 19 coup d’état from Trump. The March 19 coup d’état was carried out with the support of the US. After the March 19 coup d’état, the Cyprus case was abandoned, in return for [the US] remaining silent about the March 19 coup d’état,” he said.
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