Breaking News... Ekrem İmamoğlu's lawyers speak out on the fake diploma investigation: They responded to the allegations with documents!

Adem Sözüer and Mehmet Pehlivan, lawyers for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is under investigation over "fake diploma" allegations, have made a statement.

Sözüer and Pehlivan responded to the fake diploma allegations with documents.

Adem Sözüer's statement is as follows:

"I have come here after obtaining information from our deans and institutions regarding the matter. İmamoğlu completed his education in Cyprus and continued from there. When applying, he provided his documents and grade point average; there is no problem. There is no issue at any stage; it was accepted, he met the required conditions, and he began his education here. Without any criminal law issue here, what kind of opinion is going to be presented?"

Mehmet Pehlivan's statement is as follows:

"They are also involving the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) in political investigations. Ekrem İmamoğlu studied English Business Administration for two years at Girne American University. From there, he transferred to the Istanbul University English Business Administration Department. There is no special treatment for İmamoğlu. There were advertisements in the newspapers of the period; lateral transfer is a right granted to students.

İMAMOĞLU'S GRADE POINT AVERAGE IS 62.5

We look at the criteria of the advertisement; the application date is August 29, 1990. He meets the duration requirement. Another criterion is the grade point average; İmamoğlu's grade point average, which had to be at least 60, is 2.5 out of 4. That is 62.5 out of 100 according to the Turkish system. This is very important because it had been alleged that İmamoğlu's grade point average did not meet the requirements. These criteria are the same for transfers to all universities. In other words, the university cannot show favoritism to someone who does not meet these criteria."

THE COMMISSION APPROVES THE APPLICATION

Following the evaluation of İmamoğlu's application, an approval comes from the commission. As a result of this approval, the transfer takes place.

NO EXAM SCORE REQUIREMENT

There is also speculation regarding the ÖYS (Student Placement Exam) score. It should be noted that an ÖYS score is not required among the conditions for a lateral transfer application. It is not required from any candidate.

YÖK SHOWS THAT İMAMOĞLU MET THE CONDITIONS

The YÖK report and the documents we have are in our folder. A YÖK report was prepared at the request of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. YÖK refutes the allegations raised by some, stating in the report that İmamoğlu met all the conditions and there was no error.

APPLICATION PREDATES YÖK'S DECISION

This document is a YÖK decision dated November 18, 1991. It states that the lateral transfer from the American University was accepted, and that the equivalence from Girne American was not accepted. İmamoğlu's lateral transfer application was in August 1990, which is one and a half years before this decision. This YÖK decision is being exploited to try and present an irregularity."

İMAMOĞLU MET ALL THE CONDITIONS OF THE REGULATION

In conclusion, to reiterate, the legality of Ekrem İmamoğlu's lateral transfer process should be examined according to the legal regulations in force at the time of the transfer, contrary to what is being attempted in the research report. On the date of the application, lateral transfer applications were evaluated by faculty administrative boards in accordance with the conditions specified in the regulation. Since Ekrem İmamoğlu met all the conditions in the regulation, his registration to the university was made in accordance with the faculty administrative board and commission decision. That is all there is to the matter."

Here are the documents shared at the press conference...