Turkish court bans access to reports covering Erdoğan adviser's forged high-school diploma

A Turkish court on Dec. 28 ordered an access ban on news stories about Hamza Yerlikaya, a top adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, having used a forged high-school diploma to gain admission to a sports associate's degree program.

Monday December 28 2020 11:41 pm

This photo shows Turkish wrestler turned politician, Hamza Yerlikaya.

Duvar English

A Turkish court on Dec. 28 issued a ban on reports covering the forged high-school diploma of a top adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The court said in its ruling that the reports were in violation of Hamza Yerlikaya's “personal rights.”

ENGELLER GERÇEKLERİ ÖRTEMEZ!

Yanlışların üzerine cesaretle gitmeye devam edeceğiz... https://t.co/NDrKSWC7ai
— Engin Özkoç (@enginozkoc) December 28, 2020

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Engin Özkoç slammed the court's ruling, writing on Twitter: “Obstacles cannot cover the truth. We will continue to address the wrongdoings with courage.”

The court's ban also covers Önkoç's previous tweets covering the issue.

Earlier in December, daily Cumhuriyet reported that Yerlikaya, a professional wrestler turned politician, used a fraudulent high school diploma to gain admission to a sports associate's degree program. The daily based its report on a 2001 court ruling.

Yerlikaya's conviction at the time was delayed, and the court noted that there was no proof of him participating in the creation of the fraudulent document, exempting him from forgery charges.

This is not the first time that Yerlikaya made the Turkish headlines. In June, his appointment to the board of state-owned Vakıfbank had also prompted outrage, with several people questioning why he is at that post as he does not have any finance experience.