Kaya's Call from CHP to the Judiciary: Stop the Implementation of 2026 Exam Results

Crisis in the 2026 National Exam and Widespread Protests

In recent days, the 2026 Turkish Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS) has become the center of a major national controversy. After the exam was held in late June, the Turkish Assessment, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) officially announced that it had canceled question number 20 in the Turkish Literature and Social Sciences-1 section and changed the correct answer for question number 23 of the Mathematics subject in the AYT exam from option 'C' to 'A' [4]. This decision not only failed to reduce the intensity of the protests but also sparked a new wave of dissatisfaction among candidates and their families.

Yıldırım Kaya's Emergency Call to the Judiciary

Yıldırım Kaya, Deputy Chairman for Education in the Republican People's Party (CHP), in a sharp statement released on July 3, 2026, called on the judiciary not to be a 'spectator' to this situation. Kaya emphasized that changing the option in the math question is not enough and that this question should also be completely canceled, just like the literature question [1]. He asked the judicial authorities to issue a 'stay of execution' (Yürütmeyi Durdurma) to stop the process of announcing results and the preference period until full clarification is achieved, in order to prevent irreparable injustices [2].

Math Question 23; The Main Center of Dispute

Many candidates and educational experts believe that Math Question 23 in the AYT exam has scientific ambiguity. In his remarks, Kaya pointed out that changing the answer key after the exam indicates a structural weakness in question design. He asked: 'Are those who marked option A right, or those who chose option C?' [1]. According to him, a simple correction of the answer key causes the ranking of thousands of students to shift, and the only fair way is the complete removal of this question from the scoring calculations [3].

Criticism of the Ministry of Education and the Assessment Center

In addition to the judiciary, Kaya aimed his attacks at Yusuf Tekin, the Minister of National Education, and ÖSYM officials. He stated that every year students fall victim to incompetence in the administration of exams, and this time the dimensions of the matter are such that they threaten the career and educational future of a generation [2]. The CHP has announced that as an advocate for student rights, it will follow this case to the highest judicial levels and will not allow the 'hopes of the youth' to be sacrificed to administrative errors [1].

The Fate of Millions of Candidates in Limbo

Given that the final results of the YKS 2026 exam are scheduled to be announced soon, the request for a stay of execution has put significant pressure on the government and the judiciary. Candidates on social media have demanded the cancellation of suspicious questions using protest hashtags. Now, all eyes are on the administrative courts to see if a stay of execution will be issued. Kaya warned that silence in the face of this injustice means being complicit in the destruction of the year-long efforts of millions of young people [2][3].