TRNC politician arrested for fake diploma scandal single handedly approved the opening of 16 universities in north Cyprus

A former TRNC ‘education minister’ reportedly approved the opening of 16 universities, opposition political party CTP ‘MP’ Sami Ozuslu said on Wednesday evening.

Speaking on television to Kanal Sim, Ozuslu declared the former ‘minister’ to have been Kemal Durust and confirmed that it was Durust who had been arrested in connection with financial irregularities at the Cyprus Health and Social Sciences University (KSTU) last month.

Ozuslu said he had requested information regarding the state of the TRNC’s universities from the ‘education ministry’, and that the ‘ministry’ had said there are a total of 36 universities currently operating in the country. 

He added that 28 of those universities have been opened since 2011, and that Kemal Durust signed off on the opening of 16 of them.

Durust served as the TRNC’s ‘education minister’ on three occasions: under ‘prime minister’ Dervish Eroglu in a UBP majority ‘government’ between 2009 and 2010, under ‘prime minister’ Irsen Kucuk in a UBP majority ‘government’ between 2011 and 2012, and under ‘prime minister’ Omer Kalyoncu in a grand CTP-UBP coalition between 2015 and 2016.

Ozuslu went into the history of universities in the north, explaining that the first university opened there was the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta in 1979, and that four further universities were established in the TRNC between 1979 and 1997.

Those were the Girne American University in Kyrenia, the Near East University in Lefkosia, the European University of Lefka, and the Cyprus International University in Haspolat.

“We had five universities in total in 1997. In 2003, within the scope of an agreement signed between Turkey and the TRNC, the Middle East Technical University was allowed to open a campus in Kalkanli, and as of 2003, the number of universities increased to six,” Ozuslu said.

He added, “no permissions were granted to open a new university until 2011, but then a real explosion happened.”

Of the 20 universities in the north signed off by people other than Kemal Durust, Ozuslu said seven were signed off by current ‘finance minister’ Ozdemir Berova when he was ‘education minister’ under former ‘prime minister’ Huseyin Ozgurgun between 2016 and 2017.

Ozgurgun is now in self-imposed exile in Turkey as there is a warrant out for his arrest in the north.

Moving back to the matter of Kemal Durust, Ozsulu pointed out that it was Durust who signed off on the creation of the KSTU in 2016.

“The university which was opened with his permission later became his own office,” he added.

Looking at the bigger picture, Ozuslu then highlighted the sheer number of universities in the north compared its size and population.

“I calculated how many universities there are in each country; how many universities there are per person compared to the population.

“There are a total of 288 universities in the United Kingdom, which has a population of 67 million. When calculated per capita, there is one university per 232,000 people,” he began.

He added, “In France, where there is a population of 68 million, there are 100 universities; ergo one university per 680,000 people. Malta has a population of 535,000, and is close to the north of Cyprus in terms of its land area. It has a total of eight universities. One university per 67,000 people.

“Turkey has a population of 81 million and a total of 206 universities. That is one university per 393,000 people,” he said.

“What about the TRNC? 36 university permits granted. If the population is 400,000, there is one university per 11,000 people. If the population is 800,000, there will be one university per 22,000 people. The number of universities is very high compared to the population.

“North Cyprus is a world record holder in this regard,” he said.

One of those 36 universities is the World Peace University in Lefkosia, which, according to a document shared by former Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator for the Cyprus problem Kudret Ozersay last month, is operating illegally.

He claimed the document was written by the north’s chief public prosecutor’s office in September.

However, the ‘government’ seems unperturbed by Ozersay’s claims, with the north’s ‘deputy prime ministry’ on Wednesday announcing that the university’s vice rector Behiye Cavusoglu had met with ‘deputy prime minister’ Fikri Ataoglu the previous week.

Ataoglu said his ministry will “be pleased to support the studies to be carried out by this university and which will help promote the tourism sector”, while also wishing the university success.

Cyprus Mail