President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered the intelligence unit of MASAK to intensify the monitoring of consumer transactions and data with illegal gambling operators.

The latest phase of the crackdown centres on investigations led by MASAK, Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board, which is reportedly reviewing 13.8 million pieces of user data tied to illegal betting databases and payment systems. 

Turkish outlet Haberler claims authorities have already linked more than three million Turkish ID numbers to gambling-related transactions, in what domestic media is calling the largest anti-betting operation in the history of the Republic.

The campaign forms part of Erdoğan’s 2025–2026 “Action Plan for Combating Illegal Betting and Virtual Gambling”, a presidential initiative designed to mobilise the full Turkish state against offshore operators, payment processors and consumers participating in black-market betting activity.

Erdoğan has increasingly framed illegal gambling as a national threat on par with terrorism.

“Gambling, alcohol, drugs and online betting are threats capable of destroying our social structure just as terrorism does,” Erdoğan declared during a government address outlining the strategy behind the crackdown.

A new phase of toughened enforcement follows, MASAK and Turkish authorities undertaking arrests of 108 people across 35 provinces, deemed as abetting an illegal betting and gambling network.

Oversight of the enforcement drive has now shifted to the authority of Turkey’s new Justice Minister, Akın Gürlek, who is overseeing the implementation of tougher measures under the revised Turkish Penal Code and the country’s broader judicial reform package.

The reforms grant prosecutors expanded powers to freeze accounts, seize assets and pursue criminal cases tied to illegal gambling transactions. Turkish authorities are additionally reviewing more than 14,000 deposit accounts and 52,000 withdrawal accounts believed to have facilitated betting payments through offshore networks.

While the first phase of enforcement has focused on Turkish consumers and domestic payment channels, MASAK is now expected to broaden investigations directly toward operators servicing Turkey from neighbouring jurisdictions.

Turkish media reports indicate that the next enforcement wave will target gambling networks based in Georgia, Northern Cyprus, Armenia and North Macedonia — jurisdictions Ankara believes have become hubs for Turkish-language betting operations and payment routing activity.

The move signals a notable escalation in Erdoğan’s long-running political campaign to “clean Turkey from gambling”, a pledge repeatedly tied to his broader conservative and nationalist agenda ahead of future election cycles.

The scale of the underground market, however, underlines the challenge facing Ankara. Turkish regulators estimate that billions of lira continue to flow annually through illegal betting systems despite years of ISP blocks, banking restrictions and arrests targeting intermediaries and affiliates.

For Erdoğan, the crackdown has now evolved beyond moral politics into a broader financial and national security issue. The Turkish government increasingly views illegal betting as part of a shadow economy that intersects with organised crime, offshore finance and digital money laundering networks operating beyond Ankara’s control.

 

 

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