Turkish opposition steps up pressure on gov’t with new examples of nepotism

ANKARA

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Despite the government’s counterattack against the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) claims of widespread nepotism and favoritism in civil service recruitment, appointment and promotion, the CHP has continued to give new examples of abuse of public office since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chair Haluk Koç, who triggered the debate on Dec. 7 when he disclosed a list of hundreds of relatives and friends of Cabinet members and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers who have been appointed to state positions without passing the required exam, revealed yet another similar list on Dec. 14.

Speaking at a press conference, Koç stated that none of the government officials related to the list he announced would be able to refute the claims.

“Citizens have apparently been so hurt by these claims that tip-offs began flocking into the CHP since that date,” he added.

According some new examples given by Koç, Tuğçe Özer, the daughter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s photographer Kayhan Özer, has been appointed as a press councilor at the Youth and Sports Ministry; Ali Taha Koç, the son of a former culture minister, has been appointed as the chief councilor at the Prime Ministry; and Latif Çelik, the nephew of former AKP Deputy Chair Hüseyin Çelik, has been appointed as a civil servant at Parliament despite failing to pass the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS).

Koç underlined that all of these tip-offs were being sent by former AKP deputies, bureaucrats and the AKP’s own supporters, adding that a website has been opened to publicize such improper appointments: www.haksizatamalar.com.

Meanwhile, Sezgin Tanrıkulu, also a deputy chair of the CHP, has appealed to the Parliament Speaker’s Office to open an inquiry into the central exams arranged by the Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) over the last few years, including the KPSS.

Tanrıkulu noted that a lot of young people, depressed about being unemployed even years after graduating from university, had committed suicide.

“People who have made efforts lose confidence in the authorities, leading to serious concerns in society,” he said in his motion filed on Dec. 14.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç failed to completely deny recent claims that hundreds of relatives and friends of Cabinet members and ruling party lawmakers have been appointed to government positions without passing the required public personnel examination.

Speaking to Parliament, Arınç gave an example from his own life while touching on the question of favoritism. “I have a son. I confess, some minister friends made a proposal to assign him to a position. But my son is of the same mind as me, he said ‘Dad, I will work in the private sector.’ He has been working in the private sector in the six years since then,” he said.

Earlier, over the weekend, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said he has documents proving that CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu engaged in “nepotism” during his tenure as the head of the country’s Social Security Institution (SSK).

The CHP head took to Twitter to respond to Davutoğlu’s latest accusations. “I throw all their corruption in their faces and the only answer they can give is to accuse us of being coup plotters. The only coup plotter in this country is this government that steals from its people,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in a tweet on Dec. 13.