Turkish Court of Accounts identifies 10,783 public sector findings

The Turkish Court of Accounts (Sayıştay) has identified a total of 10,783 findings across various public administrations in its External Audit General Evaluation Report. These findings include 2,953 issues affecting financial reports and tables, 7,604 regarding regulatory compliance, and 226 related to financial management and internal control systems.

Key issues identified in financial reports include the failure to set aside depreciation for tangible assets, the omission of real estate owned by administrations from financial statements, and the failure to account for intangible assets such as software and licenses. The report also noted instances where internal audit units were not established and where real estate was leased directly without tenders.

Specifically, the audit of Sinop Municipality for the 2024 fiscal year revealed systemic vulnerabilities that facilitated embezzlement. The report stated that cashiers were granted both collection and offsetting authorities simultaneously, allowing transactions to be processed without documentation. This lack of control enabled funds to be removed from accounts through false entries to balance books at month-end, resulting in collections never being officially recorded in the administration's books.