Alluding to the recent cheating scandal in which members of the Gülen Movement have been implicated, who have already been accused of various offenses from wiretapping high-level officials and infiltrating key state institutions, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said it is hard to understand how one could violate people's rights and favor those close with an aim to control the state where they are placed. "This is what we have been calling the 'parallel structure,' " Davutoğlu was quoted as saying during a speech at the inauguration ceremony of a biotechnology center on Wednesday.
The "Parallel structure" is a term coined by government officials in reference to the Gülen Movement's infiltration of the government by concealing their close relationships with the movement. They have been accused of conducting illegal wiretapping activities and conducting operations against those they consider a threat by exploiting their authority at the Presidency of Telecommunications, the judiciary and police. How they infiltrated these bodies is gradually being uncovered. The latest accusation being leveled at members of the movement is the cheating scandal concerning the Public Personnel Selection Exam (KPSS) held in 2010.
Davutoğlu said: "We will not let you [the Gülen Movement] establish your own group [in the state]. We respect the authenticity of the knowledge. I felt deep grief as an academic about the cheating scandal. How can a student of a teacher who has received at least a small amount of ethics education do this and come to a rank out of this [cheating]."
Sixty-three out of 82 people allegedly affiliated with the Gülen Movement have been detained on charges of cheating on the 2010 KPSS exam. Those detained are suspected of being involved in the cheating scandal. The prosecutor's office has been investigating the Social Security Institution (SGK) records of 350 people who answered all 120 questions on the exam correctly, and it has been discovered that many of them are affiliated with the Gülen Movement.
