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Turkey’s national lottery office, the Milli Piyango İdaresi (MPİ), has formally proved its commitment to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s crusade against illegal gambling.
The Erdoğan Administration’s most extensive enforcement efforts to date against illegal gambling have already seen the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspend 149 match officials in late October, while news emerged this week that TFF has suspended 1,024 soccer players in a related, ongoing match-fixing investigation.
Now reports have emerged that MPİ chief Ekrem Candan has submitted a dossier containing over 420,000 criminal complaints against unregulated gambling sites to the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).
over 239,000 domains that operate in violation of Turkish gambling laws
The data submitted by the national lottery lists over 239,000 domains that operate in violation of Turkish gambling laws. Candan stated that illegal gambling was a “borderless threat” weakening Turkey’s youth, economy, and threatening social harmony.
Candan’s comment comes from officials noting that many illegal servers are hosted not in Turkey but in foreign jurisdictions, such as North Macedonia, Malta, and Georgia.
The MASAK-fronted gambling crackdown falls under the 2025–2026 Action Plan that flagged illegal betting and “online games of chance” as a national threat, with multiple ministries and agencies such as MPİ adding their weight to the ongoing campaign.
MASAK is reportedly tracking illicit flows to the tune of over ₺5.8bn ($13.2m) since the start of 2024, while reinforcing its anti-money-laundering measures “and payment surveillance.” According to reports, since May, Turkish ICT authorities have blocked over 10,519 international gaming servers and 1,473 advertising sites.
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