Brussels, 06/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has launched an investigation into suspected embezzlement within the European education programme, with links to the Turkish Ministry for European Affairs, the European Commission announced on Wednesday 5 March. “The European Commission has launched an audit with regard to the European Union's youth and education programmes centre in Ankara”, Dennis Abbott, spokesperson to Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, told AFP (our translation). This investigation will be focusing on “allegations of irregularities related to a lack of transparency on staff recruitment” and “a failure to respect national and European rules on the purchases of the national agency” (Ulusal Ajans), he added. The centre to be covered by this audit is responsible, amongst other things, for managing European funds to pay for the student exchange programme Erasmus. This decision comes in the wake of former minister for European Affairs, Egemen Bagis, being named in the corruption scandal which has shaken the government of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. (LC)