{"id":11228,"date":"2024-05-10T00:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T21:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228"},"modified":"2024-05-10T00:00:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T21:00:29","slug":"high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228","title":{"rendered":"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Two high-profile suspects in the north\u2019s fake diploma scandal<\/strong> investigation appeared in court in Morphou again on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Investigations are still centring around the town\u2019s now infamous Cyprus Health and Social Sciences University (KSTU), with the university\u2019s 30-per-cent shareholder and secretary-general Serdal Gunduz, and Turkish public broadcaster TRT Cyprus journalist Sefa Karahasan, who obtained a doctorate from the university, the pair in court.
\nGunduz stands accused of preparing forged documents, putting them into circulation, and encouraging others to do the same.
\nPolice deputy inspector Namik Kemal Baz said in court that eight people who had received fake degrees from the university had either gained promotions or pay rises in public sector jobs off the back of their degrees.
\nIn addition, he said, Gunduz had \u201cthreatened\u201d the university\u2019s vice rector and forced him to sign degree certificates<\/strong> which had been obtained through illegal means.
\nGunduz\u2019s lawyer Doga Zeki objected to the police\u2019s request that his client remain in custody, with Gunduz having been initially arrested at the beginning of March.
\nAt the time, the court had ruled that Gunduz was a flight risk as he holds residence permits in Greece and Russia<\/strong>, and thus he was held in custody for two months.
\nWith those two months up, the same court has returned the same verdict, and he will now be held behind bars for another three months pending a trial.
\nLater, Sefa Karahasan appeared in court for the second time, with the police\u2019s representative in court saying that his degree certificate had been signed not by the university\u2019s rector, but by someone else.
\nKarahasan was handed a 100,000TL (\u20ac2,883) bail with two guarantors ordered to sign bonds worth 750,000TL (\u20ac21,619) each.
\nKarahasan\u2019s arrest was brought onto the agenda at in Turkey\u2019s parliament on Wednesday, with opposition party CHP deputy leader Gokhan Gunaydin criticising the government for appointing Karahasan as TRT\u2019s Cyprus correspondent.
\nHe said, \u201cthe diplomas of the people you appointed to high-ranking positions are fake. The doctorate of Sefa Karahasan, who you appointed as TRT\u2019s Cyprus correspondent, is fake. Are you not competent enough to appoint a correspondent who is reliable<\/strong>, does not forge documents, and who is not a cheat?\u201d
\nHe added, \u201cthe fake diploma case is not limited to this man only. Those of you who have held very high-level positions have opened universities and are selling diplomas at a rate of knots.\u201d
\n\u201cYou give them equivalence here and people are getting degrees they do not deserve at all<\/strong>,\u201d he said.
\nKarahasan graduated from the KSTU with a doctorate in business management in May last year, though the police\u2019s representative at his first hearing in court on Monday insisted that he \u201cwould have graduated in 2025\u201d if the programme had been carried out under normal circumstances.
\nKarahasan had been employed at the university since 2020, and reportedly told the court that due to this, he \u201ccould have had a degree in my hand within a day<\/strong>\u201d if he wanted to.
\nAccording to newspaper Yeni Duzen, police officer Ali Erdelhun told the court Karahasan had told the police he had \u201cdone everything together with Serdal Gunduz\u201d.
\nNews website Haber Kibris said Erdelhun had added that Karahasan\u2019s grade was \u201csuspicious\u201d given that he had \u201creceived the doctorate without attending any classes\u201d.
\nNewspaper Ozgur Gazete said Karahasan \u201ccould not remember\u201d the subject of his thesis<\/strong>.
\nThe \u201cfake diploma scandal\u201d rocked the north\u2019s education system in the opening months of the year, with multiple high-profile figures having been arrested, and many more being accused of complicity.
\nRevelations centred on the KSTU, where police found that degrees were being handed out to people within days or in some cases hours of them registering as students.
\nIn April, Turkey\u2019s higher education council (Yok) announced its intention to prepare a report on the state of the north\u2019s education system with the scandal unfolding.
\nThe north\u2019s \u2018education minister\u2019 Nazim Cavusoglu had said during a visit to the island by a delegation from Yok that he hopes the north can \u201cturn this problem into an advantage<\/strong>\u201d.
\nFormer \u2018education minister\u2019 Kemal Durust was one of the many arrested, having allegedly fraudulently obtained thousands of euros by sending fake invoices to the university in question. His wife, a high-level civil servant, was also arrested, accused of having received a fake diploma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– Two high-profile suspects in the north’s fake diploma scandal appeared in court in Morphou.
\n– Serdal Gunduz threatened the university’s vice rector and forced him to sign degree certificates obtained through illegal means.
\n– Gunduz holds residence permits in Greece and Russia, making him a flight risk.
\n– Sefa Karahasan’s degree certificate was signed by someone other than the university’s rector.
\n– Karahasan was given a 100,000TL bail with two guarantors.
\n– Opposition party CHP deputy leader criticized the government for appointing Karahasan as TRT’s Cyprus correspondent.
\n– The fake diploma scandal involved multiple high-profile figures in the north’s education system.
\n– Turkey’s higher education council announced intentions to prepare a report on the state of the north’s education system.
\n– Former ‘education minister’ Kemal Durust was arrested for fraudulently obtaining money and his wife was arrested for receiving a fake diploma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8625,232,1340,4325,9134,186,2908,932,3229,3228,3,9032,1910,3531,1909,405,950,1387,1764,1315,8903,2906,250,3330,415,747,210,3895,1109,6508,1419,1342,28,910,1394,6653,7776,2628,3331,1429,1799,5328,5833,6971,184,5148,1426,583,4620,2871,4942,4054,19,759,7967,3378,3928,1906,177,9031,1001,7850,4100,8568,6305,7871],"class_list":["post-11228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-april","tag-arrest","tag-arrested","tag-bars","tag-broadcaster","tag-business","tag-civil-servant","tag-court","tag-court-appearance","tag-custody","tag-cyprus","tag-cyprus-correspondent","tag-cyprus-health-and-social-sciences-university","tag-delegation","tag-diploma","tag-education","tag-education-minister","tag-education-system","tag-fake-diploma-scandal","tag-flight","tag-follow","tag-forged-documents","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-government","tag-greece","tag-health","tag-hearing","tag-higher-education","tag-higher-education-council","tag-investigation","tag-investigations","tag-jobs","tag-journalist","tag-man","tag-management","tag-march","tag-money","tag-news","tag-opposition-party","tag-parliament","tag-party","tag-pay-rises","tag-permits","tag-police","tag-police-officer","tag-promotions","tag-public-sector","tag-report","tag-request","tag-residence","tag-risk","tag-russia","tag-scandal","tag-state","tag-students","tag-suspects","tag-trial","tag-turkey","tag-turkish-public-broadcaster","tag-universities","tag-university","tag-visit","tag-website","tag-who","tag-wife"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\nHigh-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"fake diploma scandal. fake diploma scandal, court appearance, investigation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"fake diploma scandal. fake diploma scandal, court appearance, investigation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ch.jfdi.cc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-09T21:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"968\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"headline\":\"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-09T21:00:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228\"},\"wordCount\":735,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"April\",\"arrest\",\"arrested\",\"bars\",\"broadcaster\",\"Business\",\"civil servant\",\"court\",\"court appearance\",\"custody\",\"Cyprus\",\"Cyprus correspondent\",\"Cyprus Health and Social Sciences University\",\"delegation\",\"diploma\",\"Education\",\"education minister\",\"education system\",\"fake diploma scandal\",\"flight\",\"Follow\",\"forged documents\",\"Google\",\"Google News\",\"government\",\"Greece\",\"Health\",\"hearing\",\"higher education\",\"higher education council\",\"investigation\",\"investigations\",\"jobs\",\"journalist\",\"man\",\"management\",\"march\",\"money\",\"news\",\"opposition party\",\"parliament\",\"party\",\"pay rises\",\"permits\",\"Police\",\"police officer\",\"promotions\",\"public sector\",\"report\",\"request\",\"residence\",\"risk\",\"Russia\",\"scandal\",\"state\",\"students\",\"suspects\",\"trial\",\"Turkey\",\"Turkish public broadcaster\",\"universities\",\"university\",\"visit\",\"website\",\"WHO\",\"wife\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cyprus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228\",\"name\":\"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-09T21:00:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"description\":\"fake diploma scandal. fake diploma scandal, court appearance, investigation\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":968,\"caption\":\"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11228#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\",\"name\":\"ch.jfdi.cc\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\",\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cyprus-mail.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal","description":"fake diploma scandal. fake diploma scandal, court appearance, investigation","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal","og_description":"fake diploma scandal. fake diploma scandal, court appearance, investigation","og_url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228","og_site_name":"ch.jfdi.cc","article_published_time":"2024-05-09T21:00:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":968,"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cyprus Mail","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cyprus Mail","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228"},"author":{"name":"Cyprus Mail","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"headline":"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal","datePublished":"2024-05-09T21:00:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228"},"wordCount":735,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg","keywords":["April","arrest","arrested","bars","broadcaster","Business","civil servant","court","court appearance","custody","Cyprus","Cyprus correspondent","Cyprus Health and Social Sciences University","delegation","diploma","Education","education minister","education system","fake diploma scandal","flight","Follow","forged documents","Google","Google News","government","Greece","Health","hearing","higher education","higher education council","investigation","investigations","jobs","journalist","man","management","march","money","news","opposition party","parliament","party","pay rises","permits","Police","police officer","promotions","public sector","report","request","residence","risk","Russia","scandal","state","students","suspects","trial","Turkey","Turkish public broadcaster","universities","university","visit","website","WHO","wife"],"articleSection":["Cyprus"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228","name":"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-09T21:00:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"description":"fake diploma scandal. fake diploma scandal, court appearance, investigation","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/high-profile-suspects-back-in-court-over-fake-diploma-scandal.jpg","width":1170,"height":968,"caption":"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11228#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"High-profile suspects back in court over fake diploma scandal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/","name":"ch.jfdi.cc","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8","name":"Cyprus Mail","sameAs":["https:\/\/cyprus-mail.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}