İmamoğlu's horizontal transfer from GAU to Istanbul University was legal: GAU Rector and Founder

Girne American university founder and rector, Serhat Akpınar on Tuesday announced that Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's horizontal transfer from GAU to Istanbul University was legal. 

This is coming after the Mayor's degree certificate was withdrawn and declared illegal by Turkish authorities.

Akpınar who is also a member of Parliament made the announcement during plenary on Tuesday.

He emphasized that GAU was established in 1985 by the decision of the Council of Ministers and that at that time, the equivalence process of universities was carried out by the Board of Education and Training, not by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK).

According to Akpınar,, GAU's equivalence process was carried out by the authorities in Türkiye and within this scope, a collaboration was established with Washington-based Southeastern University.

Akpınar stated that the first graduation ceremony was held in 1991 with the participation of the then Minister of National Education of the Republic of Turkey, Avni Akyol, and that this process continued until 1998.

Akpınar, who stated that horizontal transfers from universities in the TRNC were legal during the period when Ekrem İmamoğlu transferred from GAU to Istanbul University, said, “Not only Mr. İmamoğlu, hundreds of students transferred to different universities.”

Akpınar emphasized that GAU graduates did not experience any problems regarding equivalence and that the university’s graduation processes were shared with official authorities.

On the other hand, Akpınar reacted to the discussions on universities in the TRNC, arguing that this situation harmed higher education. He stated that the Ministry of Education and YÖDAK should take responsibility on this issue.

Ekrem İmamoğlu is under arrest as part of the investigations launched against him. The allegations regarding İmamoğlu's diploma are interpreted as an attempt to block his candidacy for president.

Recalling that YÖDAK had not yet been established during the years Ekrem İmamoğlu was studying at GAU, Serhat Akpınar said that GAU was established in 1985 with the decision of the Council of Ministers and started accepting students.