Legal action on way against academic ghostwriting 'industry'
ANKARA
As academic ghostwriting ‘industry’ continues its unavoidable growth in Turkey, the country’s Higher Education Council (YÖK) filed a criminal complaint to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office about the suspects who prepared academic thesis and essays in exchange of money.
A public lawsuit was demanded against the firms that committed the crimes of ‘qualified fraud’ and ‘aiding to crime’ by writing a thesis or essay in return for money, according to the criminal complaint.
Essay-writing has been offered for a long time by individual freelancers via closed networks in Turkey, but in recent years firms have been more openly advertising “consultancy” services online.
According to the legislation, the work of a student who is determined to have someone else prepared his thesis, homework, or graduation project may be canceled.
The Turkish Penal Code stipulates a prison sentence of up to 5 years for those who commit ‘fraud.’
