Diploma leak exposes cracks in the ruling party

Politics Service

While Turkey is debating a split in the ruling party, discussions about preparations for the post-Erdoğan era are also ongoing among his supporters.

Every important issue in the country comes back to haunt the ruling party. The latest example of this is the diploma scandal.

As recalled, 15 days before the diploma scandal, Fahrettin Altun was dismissed from his position, which was interpreted as a power struggle within the ruling party. Altun's name resurfaced in connection with the diploma scandal. However, this time, he found himself in the subheadings of the pro-government dispute over diplomas.

The name most discussed during the scandal was that of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Fidan also came to the fore as the person responsible for the issue.

HOW DID THE PRO-GOVERNMENT MEDIA PERCEIVE IT?

We observed a different approach in the pro-government media, which usually presents the fake diploma and e-signature scandals that reveal the corruption in the country with headlines that appear to have been written by a single person.

The newspaper that consistently put the scandal on its front page was Hürriyet, the flagship of the pro-government media. Hürriyet ran the headline “Everything is a lie, everything is fake” on August 5 and continued to feature the same news on its front page yesterday.

It seems that Hürriyet wanted the incident to be discussed without mentioning the presidential palace and certain people in power. It supported this stance not only with headlines but also with its columnists. Ahmet Hakan's writings on the subject yesterday are another example of this.

Another newspaper that stood out on the same date was Türkiye. From the very first day, the newspaper published articles claiming that the issue was being exaggerated. On the first day the scandal broke, it wrote, "The gang was dismantled a year ago. The Center for Combating Disinformation (DMM) listed the lies that were being spread to the public through the fake diploma scandal in 10 articles. In its statement, the DMM mentioned the coordinated operations carried out by public institutions, putting an end to the matter. It also made sure to link the increasing number of news reports to FETÖ. According to the Türkiye newspaper, the most important reason for these reports was nothing other than an attempt to undermine the government.

KALIN OR FİDAN?

Whether by coincidence or not, two different names constantly graced the front pages on the same days. While MİT Undersecretary İbrahim Kalın received praise from Hürriyet, the Türkiye newspaper chose Hakan Fidan.

Abdulkadir Selvi, in his column on August 4, deemed it appropriate to use the headline “The Ibrahim Kalın difference” and said the following: “The methods used by Ibrahim Kalın were effective in the operation to rescue MİT officials. Since becoming head of MİT, Ibrahim Kalın has begun to reflect his own style on the organization.”

Hürriyet did not stop there, but continued to report extensively on Kalın's successes.

Around the same time, Yücel Koç, a columnist for Türkiye newspaper, said, “We will not let them get rid of Fidan.”

All former and current AKP executives are now openly talking about preparations for the post-Erdoğan era. The existence of AKP members who are uncomfortable with Hakan Fidan's name coming to the fore is no longer a secret in Ankara. Those who say that the decision regarding Fahrettin Altun is also part of this struggle are now talking about new tensions involving Fidan, Kalın, Yerlikaya, and Bilal Erdoğan.

The AKP has entered a very fragile period. Every tough issue in the country is deepening the cracks. The fact that the fake diploma scandal has been echoed in the pro-government media from different angles and has been used as a weapon in the fight is more than enough to show the intensity of the conflict.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled İktidar çatlağında diploma sızıntısı, published in BirGün newspaper on August 8, 2025.