Turkey keeps arresting people linked to offshore iGaming operators serving TR, with 15 more detained across four cities

Turkish authorities continued arrests on Friday in a crackdown on the payment side of offshore iGaming operations serving the Turkish market. For PSPs, acquirers, and operators, the detail that matters is simple: the pressure is no longer just on the brands, but on the bank accounts and the people who opened and controlled them.

1. In Kırşehir, Afyonkarahisar, Ordu, and Ankara, authorities detained 15 people linked to the opening and control of bank accounts through which iGaming money in Turkish lira passed, with the flow described as the equivalent of roughly 10 million USD.
2. The enforcement action is part of a broader effort targeting domestic payment infrastructure connected to offshore iGaming operators that serve TR and are physically based in the Republic of Cyprus, North Macedonia, Armenia, and Georgia. In practice, that means the payment trail, not just the front-end operator, is now in the crosshairs.
3. The warning in the original report is directed at industry figures in Cyprus who have any link to operators serving TR: avoid visiting the northern part of the island, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The reason is operational, not theoretical — crossing into TRNC changes the enforcement picture fast.
4. Southern Cyprus is in the EU and, according to the source, is not especially cooperative with Turkish authorities, which makes action there difficult, particularly against people who are lawfully present and hold EU passports. Once someone crosses into TRNC, Turkish law-enforcement reach becomes much stronger because TRNC is recognized only by Turkey.
5. The source also says there is continuous 24/7 electronic data exchange in northern Cyprus between POLNET (Polis Bilgi Ağı) and PGMNet (Polis Genel Müdürlüğü Network), linking Turkey’s Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü (EGM) with the Polis Genel Müdürlüğü (PGM) of Northern Cyprus. The practical effect is that a person wanted in Turkey can appear in the Northern Cyprus system immediately, and detention there can lead to fast transfer back to Turkey with little formality.