President Erdoğan’s son moves to Italy: Report

ISTANBUL

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The son of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose name was embroiled in Turkey’s huge corruption probe in late 2013, has reportedly moved to Italy along with his family, daily Cumhuriyet reported on Oct. 6. 

Bilal Erdoğan was among the suspects accused of bribery and corruption in the December 2013 investigations, but charges against him and the other suspects were later dropped by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office in September 2014, citing “lack of legal ground for prosecution.” 

The report said he moved to Italy in order to complete his doctor of philosophy (PhD) title at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Europe in Bologna.

Bilal Erdoğan had previously started his PhD studies at the same university’s European and Eurasian Studies department and successfully passed his classes but then dropped out of the program. According to the Cumhuriyet report, the president’s son is thought to have moved back to Italy because he has once again enrolled at the university, where he will continue to work on his doctoral thesis. 

Talking to daily Cumhuriyet, European and Eurasian Studies Department Director Eric Jones said Erdoğan had once again enrolled on the program and that he was appointed as his thesis advisor. Jones said this is a “normal procedure” but he could not give further details due to student privacy policies.