University administrators issued 'fake diplomas' to TRNC politicians to obtain citizenship: Says man under trial for corruption

Serdal Gündüz, a junior partner at Cyprus Health and Social Sciences University who is being tried in custody as part of the ongoing "Fake Diploma and Corruption Investigation," has once again made striking claims.

Gündüz alleged that "the university's senior management is issuing fake diplomas to politicians to obtain or distribute citizenship."

Gündüz who was brought to court for the pre-investigation hearing of former Famagusta Police Chief Barış Sel, who is being tried for allegations of issuing fake diplomas, approached journalists before the trial and made the following statement:  "The university's vice rector obtained TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) citizenship by giving fake diplomas to politicians. The rector has also applied to the Ministry of Interior to obtain citizenship in the same way."

Claiming that "the prosecution is aware of these details but does not want to pursue them," Gündüz said, "There are many politicians involved in this issue," and emphasized that the matter needs to be investigated further.

In a previous trial, Gündüz made similar claims, alleging that his family was threatened with death by the university's major shareholder to force him to sell his shares.

Just before the trial began, Gündüz protested inside the courtroom, saying: "I don’t know why I’m in prison. They are threatening my family. Let the press hear this. I want to give a statement to the police, but I’m not allowed to."

A few days before the fake diploma investigation started, Gündüz had transferred most of his 30% shares in the university to the major shareholder, MHP Member of Parliament Levent Uysal. Shortly after the transfer, he was arrested.