Turkish Deputy PM partially acknowledges nepotism in gov't

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç failed to completely deny recent claims that hundreds of relatives and friends of Cabinet members and ruling party lawmakers have been appointed to government positions without passing the required public personnel examination.

Abuse of public office and nepotism has recently become yet another matter of bitter controversy, after Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chair Haluk Koç disclosed a list of hundreds of relatives and friends of Cabinet members and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers who have been appointed to state positions without passing the required exam.

"There are a lot of names. I cannot say that all of these are not accurate. There are lies, but some are accurate," Arınç said on Dec. 11, while addressing a General Assembly session of Parliament during ongoing deliberations on the 2015 Central Governance Budget Law.

"But, friends, it is not right to make a collective accusation," he added.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, speaking during the same session, challenged counterarguments from AKP executives suggesting that he had shown favoritism to certain people when he served as the head of the Social Security Authority (SSK).

"Let them prove that even one person was assigned [to a position] despite failing the exam; then I will offer an apology for my service as the director-general at the time. Additionally, I will also quit politics as the leader [of the CHP]; my position is that sharp and clear," Kılıçdaroğlu said in an interview with private television channel HaberTürk late on Dec. 11.

"I'm not like them; I'm sharp, clear and frank," he added.

Speaking to Parliament, Arınç gave an example from his own life while touching on the...