President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered his cabinet to ‘eradicate illegal online gambling by whatever means necessary,’ issuing his strongest directive to date on a social issue that has escalated into a national crisis.
The command instructs Erdoğan’s senior ministers to eliminate access to unlicensed and offshore gambling websites before the next general election, which must be called by Erdoğan in 2027.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, Erdoğan described gambling as ‘a scourge on society that destroys homes, futures, and faith.’
“This is not simply a digital crime — it is a plague preying on our youth and families,” Erdoğan declared.
“We will not stand by while illegal networks profit from the despair of our citizens. Our state has the means, the intelligence, and the will to eliminate this scourge. And we will do so.”
The President’s remarks signal a turning point. Since becoming Turkey’s first directly elected head of state in 2014, Erdoğan has rarely addressed gambling policy directly leaving the issue to ministries and regulators. The new rhetoric signals a personal stake in cleaning up an industry he now deems a social threat.
Addiction exposé shames AKP
The announcement follows a string of media investigations revealing rising gambling addiction among Turkish youth, particularly through unlicensed betting platforms and crypto-based casinos.
The ruling AK Party (AKP) has faced public backlash after reports of teenagers and young civil servants falling into severe debt, prompting calls for a national crackdown.
Adding to the urgency, the Yeşilay the Green Crescent’s Turkey’s heritage NGO of public health warned in its “Turkey Gambling Report” that gambling-related cases now account for 28% of all addiction consultations, reflecting the growing demand for specialised treatment services.
The report underlined that psychological harms linked to gambling are severe, citing “increased instances of shame, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.”
International actions
Erdoğan has tasked Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz with drafting a comprehensive action plan spanning ministries, financial regulators, and security agencies, with potential sanctions against foriegn governments.
“Our law enforcement, judiciary, and MASAK will act as one,” Erdoğan said. “We will identify every financial path used by illegal gambling syndicates — whether through banks, crypto, or payment platforms — and close them permanently. Turkey will no longer be a playground for foreign betting barons.”
AKP officials confirmed that plans have begun to target ‘international networks’ operating out of the jurisdictions of Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Georgia, accused of laundering millions of euros in illicit gambling proceeds.
Many complicit parties
Scepticism remains over how far the AKP government is willing to go in its promised clean-up. Critics argue that years of inaction have allowed parts of Turkey’s financial system to become entangled with illegal gambling flows, creating deep-rooted networks that extend beyond gaming operators.
A case in point is the Papara scandal, where the CEO of the Istanbul-based fintech app stands accused of facilitating more than ₺12.9bn (€340m) in illegal betting transactions through over 26,000 user accounts.
The revelations have reignited calls for a transparent inquiry into Turkey’s financial and technology sectors, with growing pressure on regulators to expose the wider ecosystem that enabled such vast sums to circulate unchecked.
Is the AKP government truly prepared to uncover the many parties in Turkish finance, media, and tech complicit in abetting illegal online gambling?
Opposition: AKP has no accountability
Opposition figure Muharrem İnce of the CHP accused Erdoğan’s government of acting only after sustained media embarrassment:
“We warned about this back in 2023,” İnce said. “If the State truly wanted to stop online gambling, it could have done so in three days. Instead, years of negligence allowed families to be ruined and young people to take their own lives. Now they talk of action as if this is new.”
Other opposition parties, including the Yenilik Partisi (YKP), have expressed doubt over how deeply the ruling party will probe the illegal gambling economy. Some suspect “political sensitivities” will prevent investigations from reaching high-level financiers or party-linked networks.
Facing an uphill battle
Erdoğan’s “eradication” order comes with immediate enforcement — new telecom and banking controls, expanded financial tracing, and coordination between MASAK, the BTK (Information and Communication Technologies Authority), and the Interior Ministry.
However, with deep-rooted networks and billions flowing through informal channels, critics warn the challenge may prove greater than the political ambition behind it.
As an election call approaches for Erdoğan , the question remains: Can Erdoğan’s war on online gambling succeed — or will it become another unfulfilled promise in Turkey’s long battle against the black market?
