In the media

A senior law student at Istanbul Bilgi University faced disciplinary action for allegedly using AI, ChatGPT to cheat on an exam. The student’s legal battle ended in suspension, causing financial and emotional distress. The case highlights the challenges of AI in maintaining academic integrity and the need for clearer policies.

The General Secretary of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) highlighted the significance of the ongoing investigation into a fake diploma scandal and its implications for corruption within senior bureaucratic and political circles. He pledges the CTP's commitment to monitoring the process and work towards enhancing the effectiveness of regulatory bodies like the Higher Education Planning, Evaluation, Accreditation and Coordination Council YÖDAK to improve governance and accountability in higher education institutions.

Six Iranian and Azerbaijani nationals have been arrested for stealing and selling questions and answers from the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) that foreign students take for admission to universities in the United States and Turkey. The suspects allegedly charged the “buyers” between $2,000 and $3,000 for the questions provided in their network called “quarantine houses”. While searching the addresses where the suspects were arrested, Turkish police found SAT admission papers, official test question books and a host of digital evidence.

Some 34 percent of academic theses in Turkey have high plagiarism rates, according to a report by the Education Policy Research and Application Center (BEPAM) of Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University. In its study on the “quality of academic writing,” BEPAM examined 600 theses in total, including 470 master’s theses and 130 doctoral theses written between 2007 and 2016. The study revealed “heavy plagiarism” in 34 percent of the theses. The rate was 46 percent in private universities and 31 percent in public universities.

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy parliamentary group co-chair has addressed a parliamentary question to the Education Minister, asking him to clarify the mystery surrounding the validity of the President’s university diploma amid an ongoing debate over whether the president was actually a university graduate. The debate has legal implications, as Article 101 of Turkey’s constitution states that the country’s president has to be chosen among citizens over 40 years of age who have a higher education diploma.

The Higher Education Board (YÖK) has launched an inquiry into allegations that about 450 students, most of whom are relatives of senior Justice and Development Party (AK Party) figures, were enrolled at Istanbul University's open and distance education faculty (AUZEF) even though they did not meet the enrollment criteria. All high school graduates have to pass the YGS and the LYS in order to be admitted to universities in Turkey.

For thousands of young Syrians it has become impossible to pursue university studies in a country threatened by civil war. In order to begin a new life abroad, students buy therefore fake diplomas. A business that is increasing in the neighboring Turkey.

A fact-finding mission in Turkey by the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies, or IHRNASS, has concluded that criminal charges brought against eight leading academics and scientists are not supported by evidence.

Turkish hacker group RedHack has leaked over 60,000 documents in its latest attack on the Council of Higher Education of Turkey (YÖK) website, unraveling hundreds of corruption investigations and documented incidents. The documents consist of bank account information, parliamentary complaints, correspondence between YÖK and universities, as well as end reports of corruption investigations.

Turkish prosecutors are investigating allegations of possible cheating and favouritism in the annual university entrance exam sat by 1.7 million students on 27 March. Suspicions were raised this week after a lawyer discovered a formula for correct answers for multiple-choice maths questions on one exam.