Turkish authorities announced on Tuesday that the academic degree of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu had been revoked.
Apparently, this is another step by Turkish President Recep Erdoğan’s government to restrict İmamoğlu, a popular figure in Turkey and one of the Turkish president's harsh and prominent critics.
According to Turkish law, the country's president must hold an academic degree, so revoking his degree will prevent İmamoğlu from running against Erdoğan in the next elections.
The official justification for revoking İmamoğlu’s degree was "irregularities" in the awarding of the degree decades ago, according to the authorities, because he had changed academic institutions in a mistaken way.
In the last elections İmamoğlu could also not run for president because he had been indicted, causing a lot of anger amongst the Turkish opposition.
İmamoğlu responded to the decision, saying that the move was another attempt by Erdoğan to get him out of the political system and preserve his sovereignty.