Turkish President Signs Decree Closing Istanbul Bilgi University

The decree was published in the Official Gazette and cited insufficient educational standards and the placement of the founding foundation under trusteeship. The closure comes eight months after the state seized the university's owner, Can Holding, during a criminal investigation into alleged fraud and money laundering.

Officials launched the probe in September 2025 and issued detention orders for 10 people, including principals Mehmet Sakir Can, Kemal Can and Kenan Tekdag.

As part of the operation, 121 Can Holding companies were seized and placed under the management of the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund. Among the seized assets were television channels Haberturk and Show TV, the financial news channel Bloomberg HT, the Doga school network, and Istanbul Bilgi University.

Investigators reported that large amounts of money of unknown origin entered companies operating under Can Holding and were transferred between companies to conceal their origin. They also said forged documents were used to reduce tax liability and that some activities were directly financed with criminal revenues.

University was founded on 7 June 1996 and became part of the Laureate International Universities network in 2006. Can Holding acquired it in 2019 for $90 million. The university participates in the EU's Erasmus exchange programme and has more than 20,000 students.

Under Turkish higher education regulations, students at a closed foundation university are automatically transferred to a designated guarantor state institution. Bilgi University had previously told T24 that Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University had served in that role since 2021.

The fate of academic staff has not been addressed in any official statement. The university's management has not commented on the closure.