SBC News Turkey to tighten controls against black market gambling websites
Source: Antakya

Turkey to tighten controls against black market gambling websites

Turkish authorities have been directed to expand their enforcement activities and allocate dedicated resources to combat the growing encroachment of illegal gambling websites.

The directive was issued by Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, who stated to the national media, “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.

In its findings, the MPİ reported 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. Another 6% were reported to come from the Netherlands.

The MPİ’s findings have been forwarded to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Cybercrime Department for further investigation. Authorities are preparing legal actions against the owners of 376,000 websites and more than 6,700 unique domains.

The former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Şimşek, views 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.”

To combat these threats, the Treasury and Finance Ministry will introduce an action plan to scrutinize 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 2006, Turkey has banned all forms of non-state-sanctioned gambling. However, these laws are undermined by the lack of a legal framework to classify different forms of gambling activities.

Further ambiguities persist as Turkish gambling activities are monitored by three separate authorities: the National Lottery Administration, the Turkish Spor Toto Organization, and the Jockey Club of Turkey. As such, Turkey has been viewed as a ‘grey market’ by many international operators.

The most recent revision of the gambling sector came in 2019, when a joint venture between Sisal (Flutter Entertainment) and Turkish media giant Demirören Holdings (SANs AS) won the government’s tender to operate the new Milli Piyango contract.

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.

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