A sprawling investigation into an alleged digital forgery ring that used cloned electronic signatures to infiltrate Turkey’s e-government systems has led to the arrest of 37 suspects, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Monday.
The investigation, which began in early 2024 and expanded this year, has exposed deep vulnerabilities in the country’s digital infrastructure. Authorities say the network created and sold forged diplomas, driver’s licenses and academic records using illegally obtained e-signatures of high-ranking public officials. The forged credentials were then inserted into state databases, allowing recipients to pose as qualified professionals and obtain public sector jobs or academic positions.
Yerlikaya said the operation was carried out in two coordinated phases. The first wave took place on January 7 across 23 provinces, resulting in the detention of 126 suspects. The second wave on May 23 targeted 16 provinces and led to 61 more detentions. Ten additional suspects were detained later, bringing the total to 197. Of those, 37 have been jailed pending trial and 150 released under judicial supervision.
The investigation is centered on a core group of 35 people allegedly led by Ziya Kadiroğlu, who had previously stood trial in Turkey’s public exam cheating scandal in the early 2010s. Prosecutors allege Kadiroğlu and his associates collaborated with insiders at electronic certificate providers TÜRKTRUST and E-İMZATR to bypass identity verification procedures and generate e-signatures linked to government officials. These credentials were then used to access systems maintained by the Higher Education Council (YÖK), the Ministry of Education, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) and at least 14 universities.
In his statement Yerlikaya said 57 fake diplomas, 108 counterfeit driver’s licenses and four fraudulent high school diplomas have been identified so far. He described the network as an organized crime group that has been “dismantled.”
Investigators say the group established a base of operations in Ankara’s Ulus district, where they ran a fake educational institution called the “Tuzem Akademi.” According to testimony from Mıhyeddin Yakışır, a detained suspect, the premises were outfitted with servers, workstations and a meeting room.
Yakışır, who allegedly acted as one of the group’s document producers, has no higher education and was previously known to police in Adana as a drug dealer. Prosecutors say he used a fake diploma to list himself as a graduate of Gazi University and obtained the cloned e-signatures of multiple senior officials, including the heads of academic affairs at Ege and Kahramanmaraş universities, a director at the BTK and a top official at Turkcell.
What made headlines in Turkey was the revelation that Yakışır, a known drug dealer, had used forged credentials to assume the identity of a senior officer in the police narcotics department — a case many saw as a stark example of how deeply the scheme had undermined the credibility of state institutions.
Other names listed in the indictment include Abdülhamid Kayıhan Osmanoğlu, a descendant of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II, who was falsely registered as a graduate of İnönü University. Separately, journalist Fatih Ergin claimed that Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) lawmaker Levent Uysal was among the beneficiaries of forged diplomas, a charge Uysal has not responded to publicly.
Another particularly striking case involves Volkan Uçak, a former carpet cleaner in Adana who used fake degrees from Ege University to pose as a clinical psychologist. He was reportedly charging clients 4,500 Turkish lira (around $110) per session and appeared on national TV programs as an expert.
Exam records were also falsified to increase the scores of people who had failed standardized driver’s tests. One person who scored eight out of 100 was fraudulently recorded as having passed with a 70.
Officials say the scheme may have extended to judicial exams. Kadiroğlu reportedly admitted to previously inserting “stand-in candidates” for the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) exam, which means people already serving as judges and prosecutors used his services.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged the 199 defendants with unauthorized access to information systems, forgery of official documents, unlawful acquisition and distribution of personal data and violations of Turkey’s Electronic Signature Law. Prosecutors are seeking prison terms ranging from five to 50 years. The first hearing is scheduled for September 12 at Ankara’s 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance.