Turkey: Civil servant exam annulled over suspicion of fraud

Turkey: Civil servant exam annulled over suspicion of fraud
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Update: 04 August 2022 17:50
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A central exam that tested over one million candidates for public offices was annulled after realizing many questions have already been published in a test book

After one million six hundred thousand people attended the KPSS (Public Personnel Selection Test) on Sunday, some of the participants have noticed the resemblance of many questions from a preparatory book and alleged fraud. 

The allegations caused a public outrage and opposition parties demanded an immediate cancellation and requested that the responsibles be brought to justice. 

The test is already a sensitive issue in Turkey with a history of fraud by interest groups.

In 2010, the exam questions and answer keys were stolen by the Gulen movement and handed out to its members who were then placed in the critical state bodies.

OSYM (Measuring, Selection and Placement Center,) a government body responsible for coordinating the exam, initially denied allegations but after Halis Aygun, head of the center was sacked on Tuesday by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the new appointee Ali Ersoy called off the test in no time. 

A probe is ongoing and police have stormed the offices of the Yediiklim, the publishing house of the book in question. 

“One or two of our questions may have been the same. It's definitely a coincidence,” officials from the publishing house told Tele1.

But the people who entered the examinations say the resemblance is too much to be coincidence: