Verdict reached in lawsuit filed by Minister Yusuf Tekin: He had sued an education expert

Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin had announced that 'oral exams' would continue, despite the AKP's election promise that interviews would be abolished. Education expert Ali Taştan wrote an article detailing how oral exams were conducted for branch managers during the period when Tekin was the Ministry Undersecretary.

Minister Yusuf Tekin filed a lawsuit against Ali Taştan in September, accusing him of "insult" and "slander." Tekin complained about the following passage in Ali Taştan's article:

"During the era of Undersecretary Yusuf Tekin, notes written in pencil, 'yf' and 'yy', were allegedly placed on the documents of branch managers appointed solely based on oral exam scores. These abbreviations reportedly stood for 'Yusuf's bodyguards' and 'Yusuf-faced.' Those who saw these notes understood what they meant and acted accordingly.

There is no one in the ministry who does not know that the only requirement for appointments is cronyism. There is also no one in the country who does not know that the Minister who made these appointments became a rector through a law specifically tailored for him."

ACQUITTAL FROM THE COURT

In his statement following Minister Tekin's complaint, education expert Ali Taştan stated that the article in question addressed the problems regarding interviews in the field of education. In the hearing held today, education expert Ali Taştan was acquitted.

"EVEN VOICING THE PROBLEMS DISTURBED THE MINISTER"

Ali Taştan made the following statement after the court's acquittal decision:

"We have been stating for years that there are irregularities in oral exams. As can be seen, even voicing the problems experienced in these processes disturbed the Minister of National Education.

Branch managers who were recruited solely based on oral exams during Yusuf Tekin's tenure as Undersecretary will serve on the oral exam commissions for teacher recruitment. There is no possibility that these exams will be conducted objectively. The events that took place during the oral exams for the recruitment of 1,709 branch managers were confirmed by lawsuits filed by candidates. Those lawsuits were won by the candidates who participated in the oral exams.

As can be understood from my acquittal today, oral exams always harbor irregularities. For this reason, the Minister of National Education should take this court decision into account and not turn a deaf ear to criticism."