Turkey’s iGaming crackdown enters a second week as police arrest payment-network operators in Kocaeli, Tekirdag, Konya, Siirt and Diyarbakir

Turkey’s second week of arrests is no longer just about offshore gambling brands themselves; it is now hitting the payment infrastructure behind them. For PSPs, banks, and acquiring partners, the message is blunt: if your rails touch Turkish iGaming flows, law enforcement is treating the underlying bank accounts, shell companies, crypto, and even gold transfers as part of the same case.

1. On 17.08/18.08.26, Turkish authorities launched a new wave of arrests across several provinces, following what the source describes as an unprecedented crackdown on payment infrastructure serving offshore products targeting GEO: TR. The operation is framed as the next phase after 349 people were detained on 14 September.
2. In Kocaeli, 32 people were detained and 25 were later arrested by the court. Investigators said about $9.4 million moved through related accounts, and that front companies, cryptocurrency, and gold transactions were used to hide the flow of iGaming money.
3. In Tekirdag, 14 people were detained and 12 were arrested. The account turnover was about $47.2 million, and investigators also blocked 14 illegal iGaming websites linked to the group.
4. In Konya, 22 people were detained simultaneously across 12 provinces on suspicion of providing payment infrastructure for transfers through illegal betting and gambling sites. In Siirt, 17 people were detained and seven were arrested; that operation also covered Istanbul, Gaziantep, and Konya. In Diyarbakir, 12 people were detained and 10 were arrested for allegedly providing and controlling bank accounts used to move illegal betting proceeds.
5. The practical takeaway for high-risk providers is simple enough: Turkish authorities are not describing this as a narrow cyber or gaming case, but as a payments-and-banking one. Accounts, shell entities, and transaction layering are all in scope, which is exactly where PSPs and bank partners tend to get pulled in.

The source also says earlier advice to avoid the northern part of Cyprus (TRNC) and airport transit in Turkey remains in place. For operators and processors with Turkey exposure, the useful question is not whether the gambling site is offshore; it is whether any part of the money flow can be traced back to Turkish players or Turkish-controlled payment rails.