Pamukkale University rector suspended after giving job to wife

ISTANBUL

The rector of Pamukkale University, Hüseyin Bağ, has been suspended from his post after reports that he gave a job to his wife in the university, Turkey’s Higher Education Board (YÖK) said on Aug. 10.

The move comes after reports that he had given his wife a job as a teaching assistant went viral on social media.

The university reportedly posted a job vacancy for a teaching assistant position with criteria that was tailor-made for his wife, including being a graduate of either Arabic language and literature or Persian language and literature or having an undergraduate degree in Arabic teaching, as well as a postgraduate degree in a language and a certificate of teaching

Turkish to foreigners with a work experience of 10 years. Bağ has declined to comment on the issue when daily Hürriyet contacted him.

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) group deputy chair Bülent Turan called the actions of the rector “shameless.”

“Unfortunately, the political institution pays the price the heaviest for these careless and shameless actions that sometimes happen in the public sector. It’s a shame. Our biggest consolation is that the authorities don’t stay indifferent to these,” he said on Twitter on Aug. 9.

Bağ had drawn ire three years ago too when he tried hiring his wife as a secretary at an institute of the university.

His wife, Derya Bağ, had resigned following reaction in 2017.