• The country of Turkey has blocked 110 gambling websites that it says are illegal over the last five years, according to an annual report released by the country´s telecommunications authority on.
• In June, Turkey launched a new anti-gambling task force, composed of a special prosecutor and members from Turkey’s financial crimes unit, communication technologies authority (BTK) and BDDK. Part of the new anti-illegal gambling regulations that came with the announcement are tighter supervision of Turkish citizens’ online usage.

The Turkish government announced recently that it will be tightening its security measures on cash transfers and withdrawals as part of its efforts to crack down on illegal gambling in the country.

According to the Turkish Banking Supervision Body (BDDK), about five million people in Turkey are still involved in illegal gambling, which is financed by cash withdrawn from ATMs. To address this, the agency will start to closely monitor individuals who often withdraw the maximum allowable amount at ATMs. The BDDK will also start tightening control over money transfers made online to track down financial frauds and illegal gamblers.

The new security measures being implement by the BDDK are part of Turkey’s two-year plan to crack down on illegal gambling. In June, Turkey launched a new anti-gambling task force, composed of a special prosecutor and members from Turkey’s financial crimes unit (MASAK), communication technologies authority (BTK) and BDDK.

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Part of the new anti-illegal gambling regulations that came with the announcement are tighter supervision of Turkish citizens’ online usage. Search engines will be heavily monitored to target individuals accessing illegal online gambling sites. Online gambling and online poker websites which are found to feature gambling advertisements will be immediately shut down. Internet cafes that allow their patrons to access these illegal online gambling sites will now be fined.

When the announcement was made, more than 10,000 Turkish police conducted raids across thousands of online cafes across the country. More than 6,000 establishments were searched during the raid to identify computer terminals offering access to illegal gambling sites.

The government also started its crackdown on digital currencies such as Bitcoin, which has been widely used in online gambling for its anonymity. The government warned that gambling operators and employees offering gambling services would have their incomes seized. Houses where illegal gambling activities take place would be sequestered by the government.

Since 1998, brick-and-mortar casinos have been banned in Turkey. In 2006, the government started banning online casinos. Currently, legal gambling in the country is limited to the national lottery and the state-run sports betting operator SporToto.

Due to heavy crackdown on gambling in Turkey, many citizens have fled to the Black Sea resort of Batumi in Georgia, which is situated at the north-eastern border of Turkey. The Trabzon Declaration was signed in 2012 by Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan which permits citizens from these three countries to freely move across these borders.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan has since called the Georgian government to close down the casinos at the Turkey-Georgia border but so far no action has been taken.

Gambling in Turkey is highly regulated. Turkey banned casinos in 1998, and it banned non-state online gambling in 2006. A state lottery (Milli Piyango) and betting services exists, however, and has some online gambling, and illegal gambling continues to persist.

History[edit]

Gambling horses were originally legalised in 1984, and casinos in 1990. New restrictions were introduced in September 1996, including limiting opening hours to 8 hours per day and requiring winnings to be paid by cheque.^[1] These followed the July 1996 assassination of 'casino king' Ömer Lütfü Topal.^[1] A law banning casinos (partly because of accusations of money-laundering) was unexpectedly announced^[2] and approved in December 1996^[3] and (following legal action against it) took effect on 11 February 1998.^[4] However, illegal casinos continue to exist.^[5] At the time of the ban casinos were a $1bn industry employing around 20,000 people.^[6]Sudi Özkan, another 'casino king' with 20 casinos, left the country for a time, and was accused of siphoning nearly $700m to Switzerland 'off the books,' eventually returning after making a deal with the Turkish tax authorities.^[7][8]

Online gambling was banned in 2006, but the measures to ban it have had limited success. In 2009 it was estimated that a quarter of Swedish firm Betsson's revenues came from Turkey.^[9] In 2013 the Turkish Parliament planned to increase penalties for those using online gambling as well as those enabling financial transactions in relation to online gambling.^[10]

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Online gambling[edit]

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Online gambling in Turkey is currently prohibited, with the exception of the state-owned sports betting company, IDDAA, which is the only Turkish entity that is allowed to offer internet gambling services. The law that prohibits online gambling in Turkey was passed in 2007 and recently, Turkey has also been taking measures to prevent players from using foreign internet gambling websites as well. Despite the ban on gambling, many Turkish players continue to bet on online gambling sites and are recognized as leading gamblers. In 2013 Turkish government issued the law by which Turkey has become the first country in the world to target individual players instead of gambling operators. Sanctions for anyone caught in Turkey to access online gambling services is a penalty of between £100 and £500 (about $55–278). Casino operators dealing with the Turkish market and bankers serving them can also face the prison conditions at the same time.^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abHurriyet Daily News, 5 September 1996, Casino owners rise against government regulations
2. ^Aslaneli, Hakan (1996-12-19). 'Çiller orders casinos closed'. Turkish Daily News. Hürriyet. Archived from the original on 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
3. ^Inter Press Service, 24 December 1996, TURKEY: Casino Workers Lose Out As State Targets ‘Tourist Traps’
4. ^Hurriyet Daily News, 29 January 1998, Countdown begins for casino owners
5. ^Today's Zaman, 9 September 2012, Online poker in Turkey facilitated by foundations despite ban on Internet gamblingArchived 2014-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^BBC, 11 February 1998, Turkish casinos cash in their chips
7. ^Hurriyet Daily News, 26 May 2000, From the papers
8. ^Hurriyet Daily News, 3 June 2003, Turkish Press Scanner June 3, 2003
9. ^Today's Zaman, 28 March 2010, Illegal online gambling still a cash cow despite measures
10. ^Hurriyet Daily News, 9 May 2013, Turkey gears up efforts to battle illegal online betting

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