Turkish opposition party leader Ali Babacan has accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of enabling online gambling by authorizing licenses, claiming that the government is not only failing to curb the practice but is actively facilitating it.
Babacan, a former deputy prime minister and current head of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA Party), made the remarks during an appearance on Habertürk TV on Thursday. He claimed that millions of people in Turkey are being drawn into online betting due to economic hardship and a lack of opportunity.
“They could stop it immediately, but they don’t,” Babacan said, referring to Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). “On the contrary, they allow it, they issue licenses. The person issuing those licenses today is the country’s president.”
Gambling is tightly restricted in Turkey. Casinos were banned in 1998, and non-state online gambling was outlawed in 2006. However, the state-run lottery, Milli Piyango, and some licensed betting services remain legal, including a limited number of online platforms. Despite these restrictions, illegal online gambling, especially related to professional football, remains widespread.
Babacan criticized the government for not using its regulatory powers to halt online betting operations.
“All of these platforms rely on payment systems,” he said. “And those systems are licensed by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency. You tell them to shut it down, and they do, it’s that simple.”
He also alleged that a media mogul with ties to the government had received a license to operate an online gambling platform, though he did not name the individual. He was apparently referring to pro-government businessman Yıldırım Demirören, the head of Demirören Holding, which owns Turkey’s largest media group.
Şans Girişim, a subsidiary of Demirören Holding, has been operating İddaa, Turkey’s only fixed-odds sports betting game, since 2019.
Babacan’s comments come amid mounting concern over the rise in digital gambling, particularly among Turkish youth. A 2024 report by the state-run Anadolu news agency found that 80 percent of young people in Turkey had encountered online gambling platforms, raising alarm over a potential surge in gambling addiction among youngsters.
In response, Turkish authorities have stepped up efforts to combat illegal online betting networks. In March police in İstanbul detained 49 suspects and seized control of 23 companies, including a television station, a digital payment provider and a bank, as part of a major investigation into alleged illegal betting and money laundering.