Turkey’s opposition calls for a gambling overhaul as Ankara intensifies its anti illegal betting campaign

CHP lawmakers argue that Turkey’s current “legal” betting setup is feeding the black market and want a single Gambling Law, a dedicated regulator, tougher financial enforcement, and tighter ad controls.

Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), is pushing for a broad rewrite of how gambling and betting are governed, warning that existing rules are fragmented and that enforcement alone will not shrink the illegal market. The CHP’s proposals were laid out after a January 19 briefing in parliament by Deputy Group Chair Murat Emir and party council member Ozan Bingöl, who framed gambling and illegal betting as a public-health and national-security issue and called for a parliamentary inquiry commission to examine the scale and drivers of the problem.

At the core of the CHP’s agenda is consolidating today’s patchwork into a single, comprehensive Gambling Law and creating a dedicated “Gambling Regulation and Supervision” body to oversee the sector. In parliamentary remarks around the same period, CHP voices also demanded an outright ban on gambling advertising—especially across social media—and measures aimed at fully cutting off illegal financing channels that keep underground operators running.

The opposition push lands as the government is already escalating its own crackdown on illegal betting. A presidential circular published in the Official Gazette set out a 2025–2026 action plan coordinated by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), focusing on detection and disruption across digital platforms, the financial system, advertising/promotion channels, and cross-border dimensions, with stronger inter-agency coordination and international cooperation.

Turkey’s legal backdrop remains restrictive: casinos were banned in 1998 and non-state online gambling was outlawed in 2006, while state-run lottery and betting services remain legal—creating a tight, state-controlled “legal” lane alongside a large illegal ecosystem. In parallel, Turkey has also widened integrity and betting-related probes in football, underscoring how seriously authorities are treating the issue across sectors.

The political significance now is whether Turkey’s debate stays focused on policing and site blocks, or shifts toward structural reform—new oversight, tighter advertising rules, and stronger financial tracing—to reduce the incentives and money flows that sustain illegal betting.