The Council of Higher Education, YÖK, issued a press release warning students about the so-called backdoor institutions operating outside of legal regulations and operating under the name of Turkish campuses or centers of some universities whose main centers are in some Middle Eastern and Balkan countries, and announced that diplomas received from these institutions will not be recognized as equivalent.

The statement said:

“…The regulations regarding higher education institutions operating in our country are determined by Article 130 of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, and universities with public legal personality and scientific autonomy can only be established by the state by law and subject to the state’s supervision and control. The establishment and operations of universities and affiliated units are regulated by law.

When equivalence procedures are carried out for diplomas received from universities abroad, the articles of the Regulation on Recognition and Equivalence of Higher Education Diplomas Abroad, prepared based on the Higher Education Law No. 2547, regarding the recognition of higher education institutions and programs are primarily taken into consideration. In order for a higher education institution to be recognized, according to Article 5-(1)/b of the relevant regulation, “Institutions operating in another country, affiliated with a higher education institution of a country, must be legally recognized by the country of origin and the country in which they operate.”

It is understood from the applications and notifications made to our Board in recent days that foreign universities headquartered abroad have opened so-called branches in our country and graduated.

It has been determined that so-called university branches, whose real headquarters are in the Middle East and Balkan countries and which operate unofficially in apartments under the name of “University campus or branch” in cities such as Gaziantep, Mersin, Antakya, Urfa, Bursa, Istanbul and Ankara in our country, are trying to recruit students through social media.

These structures, which have no legal basis for their establishment and operation, have no official status, and do not comply with any procedures and principles in our country in terms of education and training, should not be trusted.

It is understood that so-called university education is provided in apartments or through distance education, without the quantity and quality required by higher education, without providing the necessary academic and professional gains, in a short time and especially for refugees in our country, and that students are graduated with original diplomas.

In order to protect our country’s developing higher education system and quality from such destructive effects, it is being informed to the public that diplomas received from higher education institutions belonging to universities located in another country that are not recognized and are not legal in our country WILL BE REJECTED, taking into account the relevant legislative provisions.

Source: http://www.yok.gov.tr/yabanci-universitelerin-turkiye-deki-sozde-subelerinden-alinan-diplomalara-yonelik