Authorities in Turkey are intensifying their enforcement on illegal gambling activities after a myriad of arrests have been undertaken as part of a central command sanctioned by the cabinet of President Recep Erdogan.
The authorities have been ordered to strangle the ‘opportunities of the illegal sector’ through regulatory actions against payment providers in the region, which have led to the arrest of Erkan Kork, who held the role of chairperson of BankPozitif and digital payments provider PayFix.
There have been significant concerns over the black market in Turkey, however, the latest action from Turkish police underpins a zero tolerance approach to those facilitating unlicensed operators. In January, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, ordered National Police (TNP) and the General Directorate of Security to “take control against illegal gambling websites”.
It comes after an investigation from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of Organised Crime Investigation Bureau. As a result of the investigation, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board alleges that it uncovered PayFix processing in excess of 50 million betting transactions that were valued at up to TRY4bn (circa €100m).
There were widespread arrests following the investigation, where a total of 60 arrests were made as a trail of alleged links to the illicit gambling market were uncovered.
The prosecutors of the case have claimed the strong PayFix network was intertwined with gambling operations in the country, where online gambling is completely prohibited apart from state-owned operator in Turkey and the presence of casinos has been outlawed.
Wider efforts
At the start of the year the problem of unlicensed gambling was identified by Turkish authorities, after they were given distinct directions to expand their enforcement activities and allocate dedicated resources to combat the surging issue.
It was underlined at the time that “Turkey faces a great battle against illegal betting and gambling sites.”
Reporting to Şimşek and the Treasury, the National Lottery Administration (MPİ) of Turkey detailed that, in 2023 and 2024, it had blocked 233,000 websites.
The MPİ also stated that of the 233,000 websites blocked in the past two years, 56% of infringing portals originated from the USA, with a further 17% traced to neighboring Armenia.
The former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Şimşek, cited black market websites as an economic threat to Turkish society, undermining tax revenues generated by state-owned enterprises Milli Piyango (National Lottery) and IDDAA (sports betting).
Şimşek stated, “We are determined to prevent unregistered economic activities and financial crimes that cause tax loss and victimization of our citizens. We are taking all kinds of measures to prevent illegal betting, virtual gambling, and unauthorized draws, and we will continue to do so.”
Illegal gambling poses a significant economic challenge in Turkey. Approximately 10 million individuals in the country have engaged in illicit betting and gambling activities, leading to considerable financial losses. Analyses undertaken by Hürriyet, Turkey’s oldest business news source estimates suggest that the economic impact of illegal gambling in Turkey is around 300 billion Turkish Liras (approximately €8.4bn).
To combat these threats, the Treasury and Finance Ministry will introduce an action plan to scrutinise social media platforms, as these digital environments have been used to promote illicit gambling activities to Turkish consumers.
Further initiatives will see Şimşek and his counterparts review Turkey ’s criminal codes regarding illicit gambling. The Treasury seeks to implement more stringent fines and increase imprisonment terms to 3-to-6 years. Şimşek emphasised, “We are taking all necessary measures to prevent tax losses and victimization, and we will continue to do so.”
Beyond legislative actions, Şimşek and the Treasury will fund the MPİ’s new campaign to raise public awareness of illegal gambling websites across Turkey’s 81 provinces.
Since coming to power in 2014, the AKP government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has maintained monopoly control over gambling activities, with no plans to review the current legislation.
The latest revision of the gambling sector occurred in 2019, when a joint venture between Sisal (Flutter Entertainment) and Turkish media conglomerate Demirören Holdings (SANs AS) secured the government’s tender to manage the new Milli Piyango contract.
