Former Turkish exam watchdog acquitted of Gülen network membership charge

Duvar English

An Ankara court has acquitted former Assessment Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) head Ali Demir of “membership of the FETÖ armed terrorist organization” charge over the leakage of the public personnel exam questions between 2010 and 2015, Demirören News Agency reported on Feb. 15. 

However, he was convicted of “chain misconduct in office” charge in the same case and sentenced to one year and 15 days in prison.

Demir was facing up to 18 years and six months in prison in total over both charges. 

It is widely believed that well-connected Gülen network members, which Ankara calls the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), frequently stole and distributed the questions to the exams for the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS), in order to strategically insert followers of the cleric into state bureaucracies. 

In his testimony, Demir denied the charges, saying he took measures against such practices.

“It was my most sensitive point to ensure that the exam was fair and just. Ensuring this was my raison d'être. Distributing different booklets to each student, which eliminates mass cheating in Turkey, is a revolution. I did this for this purpose. I also made sure that the exams were prepared in a closed environment with signal jammers, which is a great security measure. We also protected the questions that came out of the printing house with high security. These accusations are not acceptable,” he said.

Ankara 2nd High Criminal Court sentenced Demir to one year and 15 days in prison over “chain misconduct in office” but deferred the sentence for five years. The charge will be dropped if Demir does not commit an offense within the next five years.

Indictment suggests former ÖSYM leader hired Gülenists to copy and distribute exam questionsDomestic

Turkish exam watchdog bans dismissed teacher from entering its portal for 8,000 yearsHuman Rights

Turkish civil servant exam cancelled after allegations of fraudDomestic