Yıldırım Kaya Exposes Widespread Irregularities in Turkey's 2026 University Entrance Exam

Today, July 3, 2026, the Turkish educational landscape was shaken by a strongly worded statement from Yıldırım Kaya, Vice President for Education Policies of the Republican People's Party (CHP). In the statement, reflected through media outlets such as Istanbul Ses and the Anka News Agency, Kaya examined the gross irregularities and errors in the 2026 Higher Education Institutions Exam (YKS) and questioned the performance of the country's examination body, ÖSYM [1][2].

Gross Errors in Literature and Mathematics Questions The core of Kaya's objections centers on two key questions in the exam booklets. In the literature section, a question regarding the famous novel "Handan" by Halide Edib Adıvar was presented, in which the character name "Neriman" was mistakenly printed as "Nermin" [3]. Kaya described this mistake as a result of pure negligence and emphasized that such an error caused confusion for thousands of students during the examination session.

Furthermore, question number 23 in the Mathematics exam (AYT), which concerns the analysis of a derivative graph, has sparked a wave of scientific criticism. While ÖSYM announced option "C" as the correct answer, many mathematics professors believe that option "A" could also be correct [4]. Referring to this issue, Kaya asked: "In the end, are those who marked option A right, or those who marked option C?" He demanded the immediate cancellation of this question so that the rights of the candidates are not violated [2].

Criticism of Management and Lack of Meritocracy In his statement, Yıldırım Kaya directly targeted the management of ÖSYM and the Ministry of National Education. He stated that the examination center has been unable to conduct any exam without controversy and errors in recent years. Sarcastically referring to the selection of question designers, Kaya said: "Have you brought in people to design questions who were chosen based on loyalty and do not even know the answers to the questions they themselves designed?" [1]. He emphasized that the education and future of the youth should not fall victim to non-expert policies.

Irreparable Consequences for Candidates The party official also pointed to the human and economic aspects of these irregularities. He cited the example of a candidate who lost a year of their life due to an error in the answer key, facing heavy financial and psychological damage [1]. Given that approximately 2.5 million people participated in the 2026 exam, any change in the answer keys or their cancellation could shift the rankings of hundreds of thousands of people [5].

Call for Immediate Action In conclusion, Kaya called upon the President of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), the Minister of National Education, and court judges to fulfill their duties instead of remaining silent. He requested the judiciary to issue an order to halt the results announcement process until the errors are corrected, in light of the petitions filed by students [1][4]. He warned that the CHP would follow this case until full justice is established.