Candidates on ‘red list’ denied jobs despite high test scores, Taraf reports


Date posted: February 28, 2014

ANKARA

Despite having ranked in the top 100 on a written civil service test, some job-seekers failed the oral exam of the Turkish Tax Inspection Board (VDKB) because they were labeled “red” in a profiling document, a Turkish daily said on Friday.

 

“It was striking that on a newly discovered ‘red list,’ there were also candidates who had ranked in the top 100 by getting high grades on the written exam. For example, it was observed that an inspector candidate who ranked 14th on the written exam was put on the red list and profiled as definitely ineligible [for employment],” the Taraf daily reported.

Public sector employees are selected by a two-stage process. In the first stage, candidates sit for the Public Personnel Examination (KPSS); those who pass are invited to attend an oral examination in which the so-called color lists are, apparently, heavily influential.

Taraf has reported that the VDKB uses color-coded lists to profile prospective civil servants who apply for jobs at the institution. While those whose names appear on the red list were allegedly denied jobs, those placed on blue and green lists were favored.

 

Members of various groups and demographics, such as the Hizmet movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Kurds have purportedly been placed on the red list.

“It was discovered that a lot of people who ranked in the top 100 were negatively labeled [put on the red list] because they are Alevis [some consider Alevism an unorthodox sect of Islam], Kurds or members of Hizmet,” the daily said.

The daily said in a previous report that it had gotten hold of documents stored on bureaucrats’ computers at the VDKB. The documents confirmed that tax-inspector candidates had been discriminated against on the basis of their social background, political affiliation and religion, the daily said.

 

The documents Taraf claimed to have obtained contain information about tax inspector candidates who sat for an entrance exam for the VDKB, part of the Ministry of Finance, in late 2013. The daily claims that the document, a one-page printout, categorizes candidates as blue or red.

Source: Todays Zaman , February 28, 2014


Related News

Part of Turkish media say have been shut out by government

Turkish media close to a US-based Islamic preacher accused by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of seeking to usurp power say they have been shut out of government press events in a move they see as evidence of Turkey’s deteriorating press freedoms.

Never without justice

There have been many moves of interference with an investigation where four ministers and their kids are being accused and concrete evidence and documents present a grave situation. In these first days of the investigation, the police chiefs and authorities were removed, new prosecutors were appointed, police authorities were reappointed all over Turkey, everybody covering the issue including the media is being strongly suppressed, innocent people are being insulted and accused of forming a gang. All of this is being done to cover up the corruption.

Religious communities under threat in Turkey

These operations might have targeted the government in some respects, but so far no concrete evidence has been produced about deliberate, systematic and willful inclusion of the Hizmet movement in this plot. It is true that the Hizmet movement’s media group has been lending support to the graft and bribery investigation.

Turkey could find itself facing hefty legal bill for mass purges

In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Turkish citizen Osman Murat Ulke, who refused to perform compulsory military service as an act of civil disobedience, had been subjected to “civil death” due to the numerous prosecutions he faced after his original jail sentence. Ulke’s expulsion from his profession and the prospect of an interminable series of convictions, which forced him into hiding, constituted a “disproportionate” punishment, the court said.

Alevis voice unease over lack of promised rights at Abant meeting

Alevis have expressed at Abant meeting their uneasiness over pro-government comments claiming that the Gezi Park protests were an “Alevi uprising,” warning against a “dangerous approach that encourages wrong perceptions.” The title of this year’s Abant Platform, which started on Dec. 13, was “Alevis and Sunnis: Searching for Peace and a Future Together.” It was organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), a group affiliated with the Gülen Movement.

Land tender won by TUSKON reopened in defiance of court decision

The tender for a large parcel of land which was won by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) was reopened on Monday, despite a prior court decision barring such a move, according to a statement from the confederation on the same day.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Dedicated couples teaching Turkish to the world

11th Int’l Turkish Olympiads kick off in İstanbul

Hakan Yavuz: Der Spiegel’s inflammatory, biased journalism on Turkey story shocked me

As Turkey’s war on Gulen escalates, so does impact on Africa

Gülen denies ‘groundless’ Stratfor claims of pressure on AK Party

White House courts int’l students as language festival concludes in DC

4th International Panel for Sharing Coexistence Experience in Korea

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News