Turkiye has revoked the operational licence for Istanbul Bilgi University, effectively forcing it to close, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette on Friday, after the university was seized by the state in a criminal investigation last year.

President Tayyip Erdogan signed off on the decree to revoke the licence of Istanbul Bilgi, which has more than 20,000 students from both Turkiye and abroad, with some of its researchers renowned in their fields.

The closure was effective immediately.

As grounds for the move, the edict cites a law allowing for the closure of a private institution if “the expected level of education and training… is insufficient”.

Turkiye’s Council of Higher Education (YOK) promised to take “the necessary measures” to ensure the students at the social sciences university, who were due to sit end-of-year exams in June, “suffer no harm”.

YOK did not say whether the students would be taken in by other institutions in the coming weeks, nor how they would be able to complete their academic year.

Turkish media said students will continue their studies at the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, the Istanbul Bilgi University’s guarantor school. A guarantor school is legally required for all foundation universities and must be a state university.

Istanbul Bilgi University was established in 1996 and bought by Can Holding in 2019.

Can Holding’s companies were seized by the state as part of a money laundering, tax evasion and organised crime investigation last year. A trustee was appointed to run the university following last year’s seizure.

Bilgi is known for its liberal politics, takes part in the European Union’s Erasmus exchange programme and welcomes many European and international students every year.

“An institution built with 30 years of effort was effectively shut down overnight,” Yaman Akdeniz, a Bilgi professor of law, wrote on X.

“The constitution is clear – universities are established by law and their closure can only occur by law as well.

“But who cares?” he said.

“In an era without justice or fair trials, it seems the next item on the agenda was to shut down an entire university… We will never remain silent in the face of this lawlessness.”