A Turkish court has convicted 257 defendants in a case involving a network accused of using fraudulently obtained electronic signatures of public officials to generate official diplomas, driver’s licenses and other records on state databases, Turkish media reported.
The ruling followed a monthslong trial over a scheme that prosecutors said manipulated driver’s license exam results and produced university diplomas, high school graduation records and other official documents through fraudulent identity papers and electronic signatures issued in the names of public officials.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office charged the defendants with offenses including establishing or membership in a criminal organization, forgery of official documents, violating the law governing the Assessment, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM), Turkey’s central exam authority, unlawfully obtaining personal data and manipulating information systems for profit.
Investigators said the electronic signatures were issued in the names of senior officials from institutions including the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), Turkey’s telecommunications and internet regulator, the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), universities and the Ministry of Education.
Electronic signatures are widely used in Turkey for official procedures, including university records, licensing, administrative approvals and public-sector documentation. Under Turkish law, a qualified electronic signature carries the same legal effect as a handwritten signature, making the alleged breach more serious than ordinary document forgery.
The case was heard by the Ankara 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance at the Sincan prison complex in the Turkish capital. The trial involved 286 defendants, including 29 who were jailed pending trial.
The court sentenced Ziya Kadiroğlu, described in the indictment as the founder and leader of the organization, to over 116 years in prison. The remaining 256 convicted defendants received prison sentences ranging from three to 94 years. Twenty-nine defendants were acquitted.
At earlier hearings Kadiroğlu denied using electronic signatures in the alleged scheme and blamed TürkTrust, a Turkish electronic certification company, for security failures.
“I think TürkTrust showed serious negligence in this case. They handed out e-signatures to anyone,” Kadiroğlu told the court.
Another jailed defendant, Mıhyeddin Yakışır, said he did not understand the purpose of the electronic signatures he obtained at Kadiroğlu’s request.
“I got the e-signature as easily as buying chocolate from a market by simply handing over my ID card,” Yakışır said in his defense.
According to investigators, Kadiroğlu assigned code names to members of the network and organized meetings to coordinate operations. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya previously said police identified 57 fraudulently issued diplomas, 108 fraudulently issued driver’s licenses and four high school graduation records produced through the scheme.
Turkey’s State Supervisory Council (DDK), a presidential auditing body, launched a separate review in October into allegations that fraudulently obtained electronic signatures were used in public services.
