Breaking News: İmamoğlu's diploma case adjourned

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Officehad launched a criminal investigation into the process regarding the undergraduate diploma of CHP's presidential candidate and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, which was deemed invalid by Istanbul University, and as a result of the investigation, a lawsuit was filed on charges of "chain forgery of official documents."

HEARING TODAY IN SİLİVRİ

The hearing of the case, in which a prison sentence of up to 8 years and 9 months is requested for İmamoğlu, will be held today (February 16) in the courtroom located at Silivri Prison.

THE PANEL HAD CHANGED, THE CASE HAD BEEN ADJOURNED

Before the last hearing of the file held on December 8, the presiding judge had been replaced by a decision of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK). The newly appointed panel had decided to wait for the outcome of the lawsuit İmamoğlu filed in the administrative court against the cancellation of his diploma, in which he requested a stay of execution, and had adjourned the criminal trial.

"YOU HAVE NO INTENTION OF CONDUCTING A TRIAL, YOUR HONOR. IT IS A PITY"

Taking the floor after the adjournment decision, İmamoğlu said in the courtroom "You have no intention of conducting a trial, your honor. It is a great pity." he had reacted to the decision with these words.

REJECTION DECISION FROM THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT

The Istanbul 5th Administrative Court, which oversees the file in administrative jurisdiction, also announced its decision on January 23 with a panel changed by the HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors) decision, unanimously rejecting the lawsuit filed by İmamoğlu against the cancellation of his diploma.

PROSECUTOR'S OPINION AWAITED

At the hearing held today, the prosecutor is expected to present their final opinion on the merits of the case to the court.

İMAMOĞLU WELCOMED WITH APPLAUSE

İmamoğlu arrived at the courtroom at 11:06 AM to loud applause, and the hearing began.

PROVIDED ADDITIONAL DEFENSE

According to reports by Cumhuriyet, The presiding judge asked İmamoğlu, "We had adjourned the previous session to await the outcome of the case in the Administrative Court. A decision has been issued, but it has not yet been finalized. Is there anything you would like to add to your previous defense?"İmamoğlu stated that he wished to add to his defense.

İmamoğlu said the following:

"Thank you, Your Honor. We are entering the month of Ramadan this week. Unfortunately, we are experiencing situations where we are exhausted by such unfortunate circumstances. Yet, Ramadan is a blessing; it stirs the conscience. It allows for a review of positions, status, existence, and non-existence, and one seeks refuge in the Creator. It is a month of opportunity for people to feel that they are equal. But it is sad that the mentality that cancelled the election in Ramadan in 2019 is the same mentality that cancelled my diploma in Ramadan in 2025, and by coinciding this with Ramadan again, we are going through a process where we are being tried in a case filled with lies and slander."

"I do not have much hope, but I wish and desire that this case evolves into a healthy process for our country and the judicial system. We will meet once again in this 'ugly case' during Ramadan. Everything that is said to be impossible is being inflicted upon us within the judicial system during this period. I welcome Ramadan as a way to teach a lesson to those who use faith to carve a path for themselves and engage in shameful acts, and I pray. May God grant these people wisdom. I hope that, through this, the language of people who have reached high positions in this manner will become more disciplined. I also wish for those serving in the name of the judiciary to be made to feel how immoral it is to scheme behind backs, set traps, orchestrate conspiracies, and target people's families. Faith lives in the mind and the brain; there is no need to show it off. However, I believe that this is not our faith, directed at a mentality that lives by shoving it into people's eyes."

"Our dear nation's political history is unfortunately full of disgraceful cases that attempt to imprison democracy, people's will, and hope. We are here today with such a scandalous indictment that I am ashamed of the state to which the supreme Turkish judiciary has been reduced. I don't know what is planned, but this chain of cases has subjected our nation to trials unprecedented in history. In a process formed by a garbage indictment in such an era, we are going through a period where judges are being changed and my right to a fair trial is being violated."

"The prosecutor who wrote this shameful indictment achieved his goal and was appointed as a deputy chief prosecutor in a district of Istanbul. The main reason for all of this is very clear: fear. I am here because of the dirty schemes set up against me simply because I won 4 elections against the mentality at the head of the government and because I will win the upcoming elections. I am here because they see my purity in the hearts of our nation, but my bond with our nation is not fake; it is clean and sincere. 70 percent of our nation is with me; I am here with my head held high and my conscience clear, thanks to the strength given by my fellow citizens, but it is our nation and our future that are suffering. You have destroyed the trust in justice; more than 80 percent of people do not believe in justice."

"The freak structure they call the 'presidential government system' works at the whim of two people. All of our state institutions have been dismantled. The future of our centuries-old state and state tradition is being held hostage to a single man. The matter is very serious. This is definitely a survival issue. I have been in Silivri for months because of the mentality that tries to destroy democracy."

"THE CHIEF PROSECUTOR'S FUTURE POSITION HAD ALREADY BEEN DETERMINED"

"This ruling mentality pressed the button starting from the summer of 2024. If the chief prosecutor appointed to Istanbul 4 months after the local elections is successful, the position he will be brought to has already been determined. The person at the head of the government has also acted as the prosecutor of the process. The process began with lies and operations, starting with Esenyurt. Just as it is a collapse of conscience to remove a respected 65-year-old mayor (Ahmet Özer), what all our mayors are experiencing is the same. All my friends in prison are equally innocent. All the practices within this fake process are political and their target is clear. The process before and after March 19 is garbage. It is unlawful and invalid. The positions of those who gain benefits in this process are not positions obtained through merit. I tell those people that you will run away, but this era of interregnum will end and our 86 million citizens will win. The time is not that short; it is near and at the doorstep. You will be held accountable for all of this in fair courts. What you have inflicted is fake and forgery."

"THEY WILL SCURRY AWAY LIKE RATS"

"The true position is in the hearts of the nation. My only concern has been that. The government has forgotten this position and has turned to the position of one person's heart. That position is also fake and a deception. You will understand when its time is up. Power hardens not against those who are confident, but against those who are afraid. The path of those who fear losing their seats has always been forgery and unethical methods. Those who manufacture files, those who manufacture headlines, TRT, Anadolu Agency; you will see them scurry away like rats when a whistle is blown. They will scurry away like rats. I am on the side of the truth and I will never change my position on that side. There is no human life on earth that has been scrutinized as much as mine. I am coming here from a 12-square-meter cell. Such isolation has never been experienced in history. Whatever we have done, we are within this isolation. Thank God no germs can get between us, but let me say this: the germ is among you. I am stating this clearly."

"WHEN WILL THEY FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE?"

'I am real, but I wonder when they will file a lawsuit against my birth certificate. I was a tough guy in Trabzon, and I am a real Cypriot in Cyprus. When I came to Istanbul, I was Ekrem İmamoğlu, a student at Istanbul University. I worked day and night for 35 years in my business life. My friends know this. I produced dozens of residences and business centers. I was an Istanbul businessman. The clubs I founded, the clubs and associations I managed... I lived my life in a real way.'

'I have always tried to avoid dark dealings and dark people. Ask about me in the markets, restaurants, streets, avenues, and squares of Istanbul. Ask my school friends and my friends in the business world about me. I am real. I am neither fake nor a forger. Every step I took was in front of the nation. I have always fought against those who took my rights, against thieves. I am fighting right now, and I will win again.'

'İmamoğlu is a real personality, in a way that is unparalleled in the world, where 15.5 million people, even 103-year-old grandmothers, cast their votes. You have an İmamoğlu before you who has been supported by the signatures of nearly 25 million people. He is so real... I don't know about ambushes, I don't know about slander; I am under such scrutiny, but let them put one slander, one lie, one spineless word of mine in front of me, and I will come and apologize. It does not exist.' 

'THEY LOOKED AT MY ANCESTORS' GRAVESTONES IN THE VILLAGE'

Looking at the prosecutor present at the hearing, İmamoğlu said, 'Trying to read intentions through a diploma from 35 years ago... May God give you wisdom. Those who have forgery in their soul cannot understand me. I say this very clearly: İmamoğlu is honest, he is moral. I am a forger, huh? Get out of here,' he said.

He continued his words as follows: 

'I am a democrat. When I was elected Mayor of Istanbul, I said, "I hope I will be the most democratic mayor ever." It was the same in Beylikdüzü. While I explain my life with transparency, one should look at how others have conducted politics. Calling people terrorists before the election and then calling it a montage after the election...'

'We will awaken our nation. There is a great need for this. This mentality only thinks of itself and asks what will happen to me. What do I care about you? What will happen to my country, how will it face tomorrow? That is my concern. Forgers cannot understand me. I ask the person who wrote this indictment: With what document will you call me a forger? They even looked at my ancestors' gravestones in my village. They filmed them. They dug up the fields of my wife, my family, and everyone around me. It is shameful. They searched the houses and looked. Shame on those who do this.'

Addressing the presiding judge, İmamoğlu referred to the replacement of judges in his past cases and stated, "Tomorrow they will blow the whistle on you, too. That is why you are obligated to make the right decision."

In his defense, İmamoğlu continued by recounting an incident experienced in prison by Fatih Keleş, the President of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Sports Club, who is currently detained in the İBB case:

"Recep Seyhan and Hamza Uçan, who act as lawyers for the slanderers, visited my brother Fatih Keleş in Kandıra and said, 'Become a whistleblower, and we will have you released. But if you don't do this, the allegations will become more severe and you will face things you cannot imagine.' Fatih Bey listened to these and sent them away sternly. I do not hesitate to name them because there are complaints against them. 12 days after the first visit, they went again in the middle of the night. One went inside while the other waited at the door. They repeated their offer. They described how they prepared a scenario for Fatih Bey to kill Aziz İhsan Aktaş with an instigator. Fatih stood up in horror and this time kicked those two lawyers out. He sent what happened to his lawyer in Istanbul via an information note he wrote the next morning. They started to wait a bit after this despicable attempt. Look at the setup, will you? 12 days later, look at the headline of the Sabah newspaper: A headline saying 'Order to kill whistleblower Aktaş'. The headlines continued for three consecutive days. Seeing this, Keleş's lawyer immediately filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office against those lawyers and the newspaper."

A person named Selahattin Yılmaz, who was alleged to be the instigator for the murder, was detained in the following days based on this claim. MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli said in the following days, 'Yılmaz is my brother.' In the following days, the news reports stopped. Afterwards, the editor-in-chief resigned. As I said, 'they will scurry away like rats.' This is just a small indicator of that."

"Then Selahattin Yılmaz was sent to the same prison as me. After seeing that he was placed side-by-side with me in the newspapers, I heard his name being mentioned behind me during a visit. I didn't know him, but he said he knew me, that he knew me from my days as an executive at Trabzonspor. So why weren't these lawyers' statements taken? Who are their partners? Why was no action taken against the newspaper that ran the headline 12 days in advance, while some journalists were being detained in the morning?" 

REACTION TO AKIN GÜRLEK: "IS THERE ANY HISTORICAL PRECEDENT FOR WHAT THE MINISTER DID?"

Following the incident recounted by İmamoğlu, the judge asked, "Has the file been closed?" İmamoğlu replied, "An application was made to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), but I don't know. I am meeting the judiciary for the first time here. Thank you for asking."

Continuing his remarks regarding the incident in question, İmamoğlu stated, "Is there any historical precedent for the new Minister of Justice appearing on A Haber, which is in the same group as Sabah, and making accusations regarding the case while the İBB case is still ongoing? You can only burn as much as your crime."

ADJOURNED TO JULY 6

While no verdict was reached in the fourth hearing of the case, the next hearing has been adjourned to July 6. 

News Source: 12punto