ISI and IAOS statement on the dismissal of the head of the Turkish Statistical Office

Reaction to the dismissal of the head of the Turkish Statistical Office 

ISI and IAOS Statement 

The ISI's Declaration on Professional Ethics and the UN's Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics clearly set out the professional and scientific standards for statistics, to ensure the provision of trustworthy information for the public discourse and to aid decision-making. 

The International Statistical Institute ISI and the International Association for Official Statistics IAOS are deeply concerned about the recent dismissal of Sait Erdal Dinçer as head of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), at a time when the country is experiencing high levels of inflation. There are repeated worries regarding the transparency of the appointment and dismissal procedures within TUIK, including in the post of its president, undermining significantly the institution’s credibility. 

With no evidence being presented of breach of professionalism in the work of TUIK, the ISI and the IAOS have, as in other similar circumstances, to state a clear position against what we consider being political interference in the production of official statistics. We expect Turkish authorities to assure that TUIK is able to provide objective statistics which fully meet the international standards. This will be the vehicle to secure trust in the official statistics of Turkey, which serves not only the government but also the Turkish society at large and will be respected by the international community including the financial markets who all rely on trustworthy statistics. 

Stephen Penneck     
President ISI  

Misha Belkindas 
President IAOS 

Walter Radermacher 
Chair ISI Advisory Board on Ethics