“Legal Sanctions for Turks Gambling Online”

The more popular online gambling becomes in Turkey, the harder officials there want to crack down on it. Recently they have taken all sorts of measures to make online gambling less attractive – even criminal – to their citizens.

Blocking access to online gambling sites, tracing credit card transactions and introducing new taxes on gambling are just a few of the ways that officials in Turkey are trying to slow down the growth of this enormously popular Internet activity. Major Turkish organizations – such as state ministries, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency and non-governmental organizations – are joining together to rid the nation of what they see as a dangerous and corrupting force in its midst.

Accordingly, the Turkish National Lottery Administration, or MPI, will most likely be the structure responsible for overseeing online betting games and lottery draws. The MPI will establish new laws, and anyone breaking them will have to pay fines and/or go to jail. It will also be in the MPI’s jurisdiction to block access to illegal sites, and to prohibit online gambling sites from advertising on other non-gambling sites.

An even more powerful deterrent to online gamblers is one that would affect their wallets: banks would add a “lottery tax” to any online gambling activity, seriously reducing the attractiveness of online gambling.

Another idea Turkish officials are considering is tracking credit card transactions. Though the banks say that this in itself may be an illegal activity, officials are saying this would be a fairly easy way to track down and sanction players, especially since it seems that about two million dollars are spent at these sites by Turkish citizens.

The one thing that everyone agrees on is that regulating this hot new industry won’t be easy, and that it won’t be going away any time soon.