Türkiye Targets Offshore Hubs Behind Illegal Betting

Türkiye has identified several offshore licensing jurisdictions, including Curaçao, Malta, the Isle of Man and Seychelles, as key parts of the infrastructure used by illegal online betting platforms serving Turkish players. The findings were published in a new assessment by the General Directorate of the National Lottery Administration (MPI).

According to the report, most unauthorized gambling websites accessible from Türkiye are operated by companies based outside the country. Although many of these platforms are hosted in countries such as the United States, they commonly operate under gambling licences issued by offshore jurisdictions before offering services to Turkish customers.

The investigation found that the United States hosted the largest number of illegal betting websites targeting Türkiye. Authorities reported blocking access to 51,263 U.S.-hosted websites, alongside 5,745 sites connected to the Isle of Man and 5,698 based in Armenia. In addition, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) was instructed to restrict access to approximately 535,000 websites linked to unauthorized gambling.

Overall, officials identified 84,585 illegal gambling websites operating across 70 countries, including platforms originating from Israel.

Crackdown Expands Beyond Website Blocking

MPI described illegal online gambling as a complex criminal ecosystem rather than a simple regulatory issue. The agency stated that these operations attract users across different age groups and income levels while generating proceeds that may be associated with money laundering, terrorism financing, drug trafficking and other organised criminal activities.

Authorities have broadened their enforcement efforts beyond blocking websites. Through 152 administrative decisions, they also removed gambling-related content embedded in digital games and online gaming platforms, resulting in more than 5.58 million webpages, images, audio files and payment-related resources being disabled.

Officials noted that enforcement now covers multiple digital channels, including domain names, redirect services, mobile access points, messaging applications, social media platforms and app-based redirection tools. As part of the campaign, authorities also disabled 12,548 servers and connection addresses connected to illegal gambling activity.

Financial Measures And Regulatory Action

Financial enforcement has become another major focus of the operation. The report states that authorities have examined cryptocurrency transactions suspected of being linked to illegal gambling, investigated unusual financial activity and referred relevant cases to judicial authorities, leading to asset seizure procedures where appropriate.

Regulators have also taken direct action against businesses connected to the sector. Eleven organisations were ordered to cease operations, while four others had their operating licences revoked following investigations.

The latest report comes as Turkish authorities continue to highlight the scale of the country's illegal betting market. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz recently estimated that the underground betting economy in Türkiye is worth between US$20 billion and US$60 billion, reinforcing the government's ongoing efforts to combat offshore operators and the wider networks supporting illegal gambling.