Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz chaired the Monitoring and Coordination Meeting for the Action Plan to Combat Illegal Online Betting and Gambling, held at the Presidential Complex.
The meeting was attended by Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi, Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Council of Higher Education President Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar, Cüneyt Yüksel, chair of the Turkish Grand National Assembly’s Justice Commission and an Istanbul lawmaker from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), as well as several deputy ministers and representatives of relevant institutions.
Emphasis on a multifaceted fight
Yılmaz said illegal betting and gambling were not merely a public-order issue, but a multifaceted area that must also be addressed in terms of financial-system security, preventing the laundering of criminal proceeds, combating organized crime, protecting children and young people, and safeguarding social welfare.
Yılmaz said these activities exposed individuals and families to severe economic and social consequences, adding that a proactive strategy was being implemented to prevent illegal structures from creating new sources of revenue.
Yılmaz said the Action Plan to Combat Illegal Betting, Games of Chance and Gambling in the Virtual Environment, which took effect through a Presidential Circular signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on November 1, 2025, had provided interinstitutional efforts with a common framework and coordination mechanism.
Measures targeting websites and mobile lines
Yılmaz said the implementation of the Action Plan was monitored by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) in two-month periods, while monitoring and coordination meetings were held every four months under the chairmanship of the vice president. He added that the capacity to intervene against websites, servers and connection addresses used by illegal platforms had been strengthened.
He said regulations had been introduced to limit the opening of multiple lines under one person’s name, establish subscription limits for foreign nationals, strengthen identity-verification procedures and increase subscription inspections, with the aim of preventing mobile lines from being used in criminal activities.
Yılmaz said measures had also been strengthened against bulk SMS campaigns used to direct users to illegal betting and gambling websites, adding that regulations had been introduced to limit message traffic of uncertain origin and linked to foreign countries.
Financial accounts and judicial proceedings to be monitored
Yılmaz said inspections and data-collection efforts concerning rented accounts, illegal payment infrastructures and methods used to transfer criminal proceeds within the financial system had been increased. He added that mechanisms for identifying, restricting or closing high-risk accounts had been developed.
Yılmaz said operations, investigations and technical work targeting illegal betting and gambling activities were continuing as part of law-enforcement and judicial processes. He said the efforts targeted not only individual accounts and websites, but also the payment infrastructures and organized structures behind these activities.
Awareness efforts for children and young people
Yılmaz said educational and research activities were being conducted to protect children and young people, increase digital literacy, improve parental awareness and address gambling addiction as part of broader public-awareness efforts. He added that steps were being taken to improve age-control and identity-verification mechanisms on licensed platforms.
Drawing attention to the cross-border nature of illegal betting and gambling, Yılmaz said initiatives had been undertaken with countries where the problem originated and with foreign authorities. He added that the issue had been raised on international platforms such as the United Nations and the Organization of Turkic States, while efforts to improve financial-intelligence cooperation were continuing.
Three agenda items at the meeting
Yılmaz said the meeting would address the stage reached in regulatory work, the need for new legislation, an artificial intelligence-based system for screening illegal betting and gambling, and analyses of the use of licensed and illegal platforms.
Yılmaz said illegal platforms could change their internet addresses and technical infrastructure within a short time, adding that existing detection methods needed to be supported by artificial intelligence and data analytics. He said a roadmap for developing joint screening, detection and enforcement capacity among institutions would also be assessed.
Yılmaz said the impact of illegal betting advertisements would also be examined at the meeting. He added that they expected the work to guide efforts to reduce the risk of addiction, protect young people and assess the effects of advertising policies.
Yılmaz said it would be important in the coming period to complete the work under the Action Plan, accelerate information sharing among institutions and implement the necessary legal and technical regulations. He added that the fight would continue in coordination with all institutions.
