A 23-year-old Boğaziçi University graduate says the school rescinded her master’s admission weeks after publicly posting her acceptance, citing her participation in protests that followed the annulment of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s university diploma and his subsequent arrest. Pelin Gümüşdağ, who graduated top of her class in History this year, told local media her admission was “arbitrarily” canceled by rector Naci İnci.
Gümüşdağ says her name appeared on the History Department’s “2025 Graduate Admissions — Accepted” list dated July 1, but she discovered she was missing from the Social Sciences Institute’s ID-number roster published on July 12, where final decisions are recorded. Department and institute pages for those admissions cycles are accessible on the university’s websites.
Her claim surfaced during the first hearing this week in a 110-defendant case tied to demonstrations after March decisions on İmamoğlu. Gümüşdağ says police detained her in a March 26 raid and held her for three days; the court adjourned the trial to October 31.
Multiple outlets carried her allegation that at least four peers also had graduate offers withdrawn; as of publication, the reports do not include a university explanation specific to her case.
The controversy comes amid months of legal and political turbulence around İmamoğlu. İstanbul University annulled his diploma on March 18, and prosecutors later advanced related charges; he has been held pending trial, which moved this week to Silivri Prison’s courtroom complex. His lawyers call the cases unlawful and politically driven; the government says the judiciary acts independently.
This is not the first admissions dispute at Boğaziçi this summer: in August, an alum who unfurled a protest banner at commencement said his master’s acceptance was canceled and his campus access revoked, a case widely reported by independent media.
Gümüşdağ says she has begun legal action to challenge the decision. The next hearing in the protest-related case is scheduled for October 31
