16.08.2025 21:57
A lawsuit has been filed against 46 individuals who obtained fake equivalency certificates from the Ministry of National Education and produced these documents. The indictment states that the defendant teacher, Güler K, added the equivalency certificates of 11 individuals who applied to the board into the system manually, without entering them into the e-equivalency module. The individuals for whom the certificates were issued have been placed in departments such as medicine, law, and engineering.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has filed a lawsuit against 46 individuals who, despite receiving education in high schools in Turkey, made false declarations as if they had studied abroad and obtained fake equivalency certificates from the Ministry of National Education.
In the indictment prepared by the Public Servants Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was noted that an investigation was initiated after the Presidential Communication Center received reports in 2019 and 2020 that many individuals had been registered in various universities in Turkey as if they had graduated from colleges or universities abroad with fake transcript documents.
REGISTRATION TO UNIVERSITIES WITH FAKE EQUIVALENCY CERTIFICATES
The indictment stated that as a result of the examination conducted by the Ministry of National Education's Inspection Board, it was determined that fake documents were issued to many individuals as if they had studied at any school abroad. It was found that some individuals registered in various universities in Turkey with equivalency certificates obtained from the Board of Education and Discipline, Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education, Çankaya District Directorate of National Education, and various provincial directorates of national education, and efforts were underway to identify those who facilitated and followed up on these transactions.
THOSE WHO CLAIMED "I STUDIED HIGH SCHOOL ABROAD" NEVER LEFT THE COUNTRY
In the course of the investigations, it was revealed in the response letters from the relevant institutions that the original documents presented by the individuals in question during their applications were not found in the institutions, and it was determined that 10 out of 11 students who submitted documents to the Board of Education and Discipline claiming to have studied high school abroad also had high school diplomas in Turkey. Additionally, it was found that all 11 students claimed to have studied high school abroad during dates when they either never left the country or were only abroad for a short period.
The indictment stated that it was determined that the high school education dates of 9 students in Turkey overlapped with their high school education dates abroad, while the education dates of the other students did not align with their entry and exit dates from the country.
TEACHER GÜLER K ADDED EQUIVALENCY CERTIFICATES OF 11 INDIVIDUALS TO THE SYSTEM
The indictment noted that the defendant Güler K had been a teacher in the Çankaya Directorate of National Education since 2008 and was temporarily assigned to the Board of Education and Discipline, and that the defendant added the equivalency certificates of 11 individuals who applied to the board to the Document Management System (DYS) without entering them into the e-equivalency module.
THEY WERE PLACED IN DEPARTMENTS SUCH AS MEDICINE, LAW, AND ENGINEERING
According to the Equivalency Regulation of the Ministry of National Education, it was stated in the indictment that equivalency procedures should be carried out by educational attachés or offices abroad, and by national education directorates in metropolitan districts with a population of 250,000 or more within the country. Despite this provision, it was noted that Güler K issued equivalency certificates on behalf of some defendants, and it was understood from the financial transactions between the suspect Bekir T and Güler K that these transactions were conducted for mutual benefit. The indictment stated that the defendants Bekir T, Güler K, Hamza U, Harun K, Ertaş I, Ulaş Çağlar Ö, Emre C, and Erdal Ş facilitated other defendant students who wanted to obtain equivalency certificates through fraudulent methods, and it was determined that "These students graduated from a high school in Turkey but presented themselves as if they had studied remotely or in formal education in countries such as Ukraine, Russia, and Azerbaijan, and were placed in high-demand departments of universities in our country, especially in medicine, law, and engineering, through the foreign student quota."
The indictment stated that the document preparation processes for the equivalency certificates obtained from the Board of Education and Discipline were carried out by Güler K, who was temporarily assigned to the relevant institution, and that the students who received fake equivalency certificates had their document and transaction follow-ups conducted by defendants Emre C, Ulaş Çağlar Ö, Hamza U, Harun K, and Ertaş I on behalf of a translation office, and that the equivalency certificate applications to the Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education and Çankaya District Directorate of National Education were made by obtaining powers of attorney from the defendant students by suspects Hamza U, Harun K, Ertaş I, and Bekir T.
“THEY HAVE USURPED THE EFFORTS OF MILLIONS OF STUDENTS”
The indictment included the following findings:
“Although they did not study at any school abroad, all defendants who obtained equivalency certificates from the Board of Education and Discipline or provincial and district National Education Directorates with fake documents as if they had studied abroad and facilitated these transactions have usurped the efforts of millions of young students whose ultimate goal since they started primary school has been to pass the university entrance exam and study at a good faculty. They have prevented students who deserved to be placed in any university from doing so, causing material and moral grievances by wasting the efforts and money spent by these young people and their families to pass the university entrance exam.
“IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THEY PAID MONEY TO HAVE THE TRANSACTIONS DONE”
Accordingly, it was determined that the suspect Güler K, who was responsible for the equivalency procedures at the Board of Education and Discipline, issued equivalency certificates based on fake documents in exchange for money from students, contrary to the regulations of the Ministry of National Education, and that the suspect Bekir T, an official of educational consultancy services, paid Güler K money to have these transactions done. Defendants Emre C, Ulaş Çağlar Ö, Harun K, Hamza U, and Erdal Ş, using the powers of attorney they obtained from the defendant students, prepared fake documents on behalf of students in different provinces who wanted to obtain equivalency certificates and irregularly obtained equivalency certificates from the National Education Directorates. It was also determined that other student defendants used these equivalency certificates created with fake documents to enroll themselves in high-scoring departments of universities under the 'foreign student' quota.
THEY ARE BEING TRIED FOR UP TO 19 YEARS AND 6 MONTHS IN PRISON
In this context, it was requested that the academician Bekir T, the owner of the overseas education and consultancy company, be sentenced to 4 years to 19 years and 6 months for "bribery" and "forgery in official documents," and that the defendant teacher Güler K, who worked at the Board of Education and Discipline, be sentenced for "receiving bribes" and "forgery in official documents." It was also requested that the other 44 defendants be sentenced to 3 years to 7 years and 6 months for "forgery in official documents."
The trial of the defendants is ongoing at the Ankara 36th High Criminal Court.