Turkey’s Ministry of Interior has revealed the country’s ongoing crackdown on illegal online gambling has resulted in thousands of arrests and the seizure of ₺15.8bn ($379m) in cash and assets.
From January 1, 2024 to October 6, 2025, Turkish security forces have conducted 1,120 operations targeting illegal gambling.
In 2024, Turkey’s interior security affairs division executed 499 raids, detaining 3,397 suspects and formally arresting 1,088. So far this year, 621 raids have netted 3,394 suspects, with 1,313 sent to prison.
Turkish publication Daily Sabah cited government sources stating the crackdown on illegal gambling targets “organizers and their local networks,” with law enforcement investigating 109 crime syndicates over the past five years.
Despite revenues from Turkey’s legal betting market hitting ₺590.9bn ($14.12bn) in 2024, officials estimate that the illegal equivalent is approximately twice its size.
dark networks especially lure our youth”
Following the announcement, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the “social dangers” of the vertical allied with the growth of digital and advances in technology to make “societies more isolated while creating new avenues for crime.” The Interior Minister added that illegal online gambling was an exploitation trap, and that “dark networks especially lure our youth with promises of easy gains, pushing them into debt, crime and even suicide.”
Yerlikaya concluded by stating his ministry addresses crimes such as illegal gambling, money laundering, and digital fraud “in a holistic manner.”
