Turkey Cracking Down On Internet Gamblers

Turkey, who recently followed in the footsteps of the United States to reinforce illegal, 'unauthorized' online gambling, has issued a stern warning to their people. According to the Zaman, a daily Turkish newspaper, anyone caught gambling over the Internet will face fines starting at 100 Lira.

The newspaper report reveals that Turkish police claim to have identified at least 3,500 residents participating illegally in online gambling, and that they will face a fine of 100 Lira for each game played online - equivalent to 84.25-USD, 58.50-EUR or 41.75-GBP.

On February 28, 2007, Turkish legislature passed laws to prohibit the unauthorized provision of online gambling to Turkish residents. Unauthorized online gambling may include both domestic and foreign online gambling operations. The law was enacted to protect the partially state-owned company, IDDAA, much the same way the US passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) to protect state lotteries and horse race betting capitol.

Turkey has initiated an investigation concerning online gambling sites providing services within their borders. Police officials state that of the 3,500 individuals who have been identified as illegal online gamblers, a total of approximately 46,000 games have been played. Police did not reveal how they obtained this information.

According to the investigation reports, the majority of online gamblers identified reside in the following locations (alphabetically): Antalya, Bolu, Bursa, Duzce, Edirne, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli, Mersin and Sakarya.