New questions from CHP's Namık Tan regarding Hakan Fidan's undergraduate diploma: 'It raises doubts'

CHP Deputy Chairman Namık Tan has made a new statement in which he also shared the rebuttal from the Center for Combating Disinformation regarding the allegations he had raised.

Tan posed 20 questions under the heading "Questions regarding Mr. Hakan Fidan's undergraduate diploma" on his social media account and made new, noteworthy allegations.

Here are the questions asked by CHP's Tan:

QUESTIONS REGARDING MR. HAKAN FİDAN’S UNDERGRADUATE DIPLOMA

1. Hakan Fidan, who holds a position as prestigious as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and carries the privilege of 'representing Turkey' alongside the President, must first ensure that his own reputation is spotless.

2. The questions asked about Hakan Fidan's diploma are not personal, but public. It is our most natural right to ask questions about this matter, which is closely related to the principles of public trust, merit, and constitutional equality.

3. The diploma shared by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications' Center for Combating Disinformation (DMM), which is claimed to belong to Hakan Fidan, does not belong to the University of Maryland, College Park; it belongs to the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), which provides distance education and changed its name to “Global Campus” in 2019.

4. Although these two institutions bear similar names, they are completely different structures. College Park is a research university. UMUC (now known as University of Maryland Global Campus - UMGC), from which Fidan states he graduated, is a parallel distance education network that provides services remotely or at overseas bases. It offers an accelerated training program that cannot be equivalent to a standard undergraduate education.

5. In the document presented on behalf of Hakan Fidan, the diploma type is listed as “Bachelor of Science (BS).” However, there is no concrete record in publicly available sources indicating that UMUC awarded this type of undergraduate diploma in Political Science in the 1990s.

6. During the same years, UMUC only offered a broad program covering some courses related to political science under the name “Bachelor of Arts in Social Science.” For this reason, the phrase “BS in Political Science” on Hakan Fidan's published diploma becomes inherently controversial.

7. Because, like all universities in the US, the diplomas of those who graduate from social science departments of the University of Maryland also bear the title Bachelor of Arts (BA), not Bachelor of Science.

8. In addition to the inconsistencies between the graduation year and the type of program offered by the institution, the fact that the department name is not clearly written on the diploma and the campus is not specified raises doubts in terms of format.

9. By choosing to share the equivalence documents in low resolution and in a collage format, the DMM has followed a path that raises doubts rather than satisfying the public. Presenting documents in this way creates uncertainty, not transparency.

10. Another question is whether the document, which is said to be a university diploma, is actually a certificate program followed through distance education. Furthermore, another serious question that needs to be answered is which overseas missions Hakan Fidan was on during the months he was a non-commissioned officer, and how he completed a political science education that actually lasts 4 years during this intense duty schedule.

11. The following statement in the equivalence certificate issued by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) is quite remarkable: “Upon the education he received at the Land Forces Command Electronic Non-Commissioned Officer Preparatory School, by successfully completing the Political Science Program of the University of Maryland University College in Germany..." This sentence is the type that could only appear in a university's own graduation report or student achievement summary, not in an equivalence certificate. If this statement is truly in an official equivalence certificate belonging to YÖK, it reveals that YÖK is portraying an institution outside its own jurisdiction as a “complementary” one.

12. There is another issue regarding Hakan Fidan's educational background that needs to be handled carefully: the YÖK equivalence issue. For foreign diplomas to be valid in Turkey, they must be recognized by YÖK.

13. YÖK equivalence is not granted automatically for institutions that focus on distance education, such as UMUC. An individual evaluation is made, and most of the time, a rejection or limited equivalence decision is issued. YÖK regulations are clear on this matter.

14. In this case, shouldn't one ask: Even if Fidan's diploma was obtained as declared, how was it recognized by YÖK? If it was recognized, on which university and which program was this decision based?

15. How many other non-commissioned officers in a similar position during the same period were issued an equivalence certificate of this nature by YÖK? Is Fidan's situation an exception, or have there been similar practices before?

16. There is a serious possibility here: Could the alleged YÖK equivalence have been granted under the assumption that it was the University of Maryland, College Park, whose names are constantly confused? Because the University of Maryland, College Park is a university recognized by YÖK. However, College Park and UMUC, from which Fidan's published diploma was obtained, are separate institutions.

17. There is more: If this diploma is not recognized in Turkey, then Fidan having completed his master's and doctorate at Bilkent University also becomes legally controversial.

18. It is essential that YÖK, which is so sensitive about granting equivalence to diplomas that young people earn with their own sweat, clarifies all question marks regarding Mr. Fidan's higher education process in a way that satisfies the public conscience. Because, in an environment where the fake diploma scandal has erupted and trust in the state has been shaken to this extent, merely sharing images of a diploma and an equivalence certificate is not enough.

19. Details regarding Hakan Fidan's transcript, which courses he took, how and where he completed these courses, how he received equivalence from YÖK, and how he was accepted into the master's program must be explained immediately and completely with all documents.

20. The issue is merit, transparency, and the legitimacy of public administration. For this reason, we will bring these questions to the Parliament's agenda; we will not let this file go with the parliamentary question we will submit.