Safure Cantürk

ANKARA – Prosecutors have launched a new probe into the 2010 Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS) after a previous inquiry failed to yield results following a three-year investigation.

The Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) supervising the exams annulled the results due to allegations of cheating. A new prosecutor assigned to the case investigated 350 people who passed the exams by answering all questions correctly. All of them were found to be working as teachers at prep schools and private schools run by the Gülen Movement. It is reported that none of them were questioned in the probe launched in 2010. The new prosecutor also found that some participants supplied false addresses on exam registration forms to avoid suspicions.

The prosecutor's office has requested a list of phone calls made by exam participants before and after the tests to investigate whether they had questions and answers leaked to them prior to the exam.

The Gülen Movement, a powerful organization led by controversial cleric Fethullah Gülen, an imam living in self-imposed exile in the United States, is accused of running a parallel organization within the Turkish state. The organization is blamed for the Dec. 17 coup attempt which sought to discredit the government through investigations targeting people close to the government. The movement, which acquired clout in law enforcement, judiciary and various government agencies over the years, also faces allegations of cheating in other exams.

Those include exams for promotion to a higher rank in police force and exams for the post of associate professor at universities.