CHP's Hasan Öztürkmen shares proof: Turkey's top-ranked candidate eliminated in interview

CHP Gaziantep Deputy Hasan Öztürkmen has made striking allegations regarding the promotion exams held at the Ministry of Justice. Announcing that Muhammer Yalçınkaya, who ranked first in Turkey with a score of 97.5 in the written exam, was failed and eliminated in the interview, Öztürkmen described the process as an "injustice." The statement noted that many high-scoring candidates were eliminated during the oral exam stage, while criticisms of the interview system and past judicial decisions were brought back to the agenda.

The statement by CHP's Hasan Öztürkmen is as follows: 

“Muhammer Yalçınkaya, who ranked first in Turkey with a score of 97.5 in the Ministry of Justice branch manager exam, was eliminated in the interview. The Ministry of Justice, tasked with ensuring justice in Turkey, has gone down in history with the injustices it has committed against its own personnel. 

The written portion of the Ministry of Justice Personnel Promotion and Title Change exam was held in 8 provinces on November 30, 2025. The oral exams were completed between February 2 and February 27, 2026. Ministry of Justice personnel sweated to advance in their careers and become managers. 

Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek announced in a statement on his social media account last week that a total of 1,453 candidates were successful, including 1,187 candidates for promotion and 266 for title change. However, Muhammer Yalçınkaya, who ranked first in Turkey with a score of 97.5 in the branch manager exam, was not among those who were "successful." Because Yalçınkaya was found unsuccessful in the interview and was eliminated. This is not the first time for Yalçınkaya. In 2023, Yalçınkaya ranked second in Turkey in the same exam with a score of 94 and could not be promoted because he was eliminated in the interview again.

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE CONVICTED OF INJUSTICE IN 65 LAWSUITS

It is not just those who took the branch manager exam; hundreds of Ministry of Justice personnel who received high scores in the exams for clerkship management, chief positions, and court clerkship were also eliminated via interview. 

This situation is not new at the Ministry of Justice. Justice personnel have been victims of a patronage system called "interview" for years. 

Last year, I brought the grievances caused by interviews at the Ministry of Justice to the agenda and supported the legal struggles of the victims. The Ministry of Justice was convicted of injustice in exactly 65 lawsuits due to last year's interviews. The interview victims won the cases. Moreover, the court decisions that found the interview victims to be in the right essentially gave the Ministry of Justice a "lesson in justice." The court decisions registered the illegality of the interviews with the following findings: 

“-The answers given by the candidates to the questions asked in the interview were not recorded. 

-The reasons for the low scores given were not explained.

-An objective and auditable evaluation in accordance with measurement and assessment principles was not conducted.

-The method applied in the interview did not pass the legality audit.

- The interviews were not conducted within the legal boundaries specified in the Constitution.”

ALL OF THEM WERE ELIMINATED IN THE SECOND INTERVIEW AS WELL 

However, despite the court decisions, the painful picture in the interviews continued. All of the candidates whose interviews were canceled by court decisions and who gained the right to retake the interview were eliminated in the second interview as well! Without exception, all of them! What good is it if the judiciary registers your rightfulness? What matters is who your reference is, not the law or being right!

So, who is rising instead of high-scoring and meritorious youth? Undoubtedly, the answer to this is hidden in the patronage correspondence of Deputy Minister of Justice Ramazan Can, which was caught on camera the previous year. Those without a reference from the AKP have no right to work in the Ministry of Justice or any other public institution! 

There is one more way. Or you must have patronage from a partisan union! The statement made by Türk Büro Sen, known for its closeness to the People's Alliance partner MHP, following the Ministry of Justice exam, was essentially a confession of this patronage system. The official account of the Türk Büro Sen Adana branch had made the following post:

 “According to the promotion interview results, 43 of our friends who won 54 manager positions and were promoted to manager are members of our union, that is, Türk Büro Sen. These results have shown that being a member of Türk Büro-Sen is a privilege in the eyes of our state.”

A confession of patronage could not have been made more clearly and explicitly.

ERDOĞAN DID NOT KEEP HIS PROMISE THAT ‘INTERVIEWS WILL BE ABOLISHED’

When looking at this year's interview results, it is seen that the tradition at the Ministry of Justice has not changed.

President Erdoğan had promised before the elections, "We will abolish interviews in the public sector." He had used this promise in election campaigns and on party posters. Erdoğan won the election but did not keep his promise. 

Is it just the Ministry of Justice? The situation is the same in almost all of our public institutions. There are hundreds of thousands of interview victims whose rights and labor have been stolen. We will put up every fight to end this disgrace.

It will not be spouses, friends, or relatives with patronage working in public institutions; it will be meritorious, brilliant youth, the pure children of this homeland! We will eventually end the interview regime that eliminates the top-ranked candidate in Turkey.”

News Source: 12punto