One in every two AKP supporters says nepotism increased in last 20 years in Turkey

One in every two ruling AKP voters believes that nepotism has increased in Turkey within the last 20 years, according to a survey conducted in the face of allegations of fraud in the civil servant exam KPSS.

Monday August 08 2022 02:17 pm

Duvar English

As allegations of fraud in the Public Personnel Selection Exam (KPSS) continue to dominate the agenda of the Turkish public, Aksoy Research Company conducted a survey with regards to the issue.

According to the survey, 64.1 percent of citizens find the allegations true, while 64 percent said that the overhaul of the head of the Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM), the state body responsible for national-level exams, will lead to “no change with regards to the exams and everything will continue as before.”

The survey's results were shared by Aksoy Research founder Ertan Aksoy in an article published in the daily Cumhuriyet.

The survey also asked participants the question of “How do you think has nepotism changed within the last 20 years?” Some 70.7 percent of the participants said that either “It must have increased a lot” or “It must have increased.” As for the voters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), these figures were respectively 29.1 percent and 20.3 percent, corresponding to 49.4 percent in total.

The survey also asked participants about the “level of nepotism” in Turkey, to which 74.9 percent answered “very high” or “high”, whereas this figure was 61.5 percent for AKP voters.

Last week, with a midnight decree, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan replaced the ÖYSM head in the face of allegations that some questions of the KPSS were leaked. Erdoğan instead appointed Prof. Dr. Bayram Ersoy for the post, who was revealed to have previously praised the deceased leader of Islamist İsmailağa Community leader.

Several reports published previously have shown how nepotism has thrived under the AKP, exposing the names of relatives and friends of AKP members who either bypassed the KPSS to get public jobs or climbed the public service ladder.