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Turkiye has revoked the operational licence for Istanbul Bilgi University, effectively forcing it to close, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette on Friday, after the university was seized by the state in a criminal investigation last year.
President Tayyip Erdogan signed off on the decree to revoke the licence of Istanbul Bilgi, which has more than 20,000 students from both Turkiye and abroad, with some of its researchers renowned in their fields.
As grounds for the move, the edict cites a law allowing for the closure of a private institution if “the expected level of education and training… is insufficient”.
Istanbul Bilgi University was established in 1996 and bought by Can Holding in 2019.
