{"id":12169,"date":"2026-02-04T12:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/?p=12169"},"modified":"2026-02-04T12:32:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:32:36","slug":"crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/","title":{"rendered":"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It appears that a significant development has occurred in President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s <\/strong>renewed campaign against the illegal gambling market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following an investigation into Veysel \u015eahin\u2019s <\/strong>role in supporting illegal gambling networks in Turkey, his assets were seized, reportedly including around \u20ac460 million ($545m)  in cryptocurrency, spread across numerous companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This marks an important milestone in Erdo\u011fan\u2019s long-term fight against illegal operators, as it represents the first use of new regulatory powers that allow prosecutors to confiscate assets suspected of involvement in unlawful gambling activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The actions were initiated following the work of MASAK<\/strong> \u2014 Turkey\u2019s Financial Crimes Investigation Board \u2014 which has been granted direct authority to review financial transactions in order to \u201cprevent proceeds from criminal activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MASAK\u2019s powers extend across multiple digital sectors, including gambling and betting, e-commerce, fintech and payment systems, as well as insurance and pension organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MASAK\u2019s investigation uncovered unusual financial operations by the group, which accelerated the case against \u015eahin and even triggered his extradition process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, \u015eahin has come under intense scrutiny for violating Turkish laws on betting and gambling on football and other sports, as well as laundering illegally obtained income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eliminating \u015eahin will undoubtedly be a landmark event in Erdo\u011fan\u2019s campaign against the illegal market \u2014 the removal of a key figure and a clear demonstration of what he has described as the evil \u201cworse than terrorism\u201d for modern youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MASAK, the authority responsible for monitoring Turkey\u2019s black market, has received new powers to review financial transactions aimed at \u201cpreventing criminal proceeds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since February 1, MASAK has been authorized to monitor online transactions and enforce user identification procedures, with the directive emphasizing strengthened measures \u201cto prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, a special task force conducted a raid in December, during which 42 suspects were detained in a major illegal betting investigation. Like the operation against \u015eahin, the raid resulted in asset seizures, including bank accounts and crypto wallets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout 2026, Turkish authorities have focused on international cooperation and cross-border actions to strengthen the fight against the black market, and the successful extradition of \u015eahin will be an important first step in that direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t forget to subscribe to our Telegram channel!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It appears that a significant development has occurred in President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s renewed campaign against the illegal gambling market. Following an investigation into Veysel \u015eahin\u2019s role in supporting illegal gambling networks in Turkey, his assets were seized, reportedly including around \u20ac460 million ($545m)  in cryptocurrency, spread across numerous companies. This marks an important milestone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1,24,564],"tags":[14510,5890,15561,1159,12840,15181,3425,15562,3174,12010,155,116,622,15560],"class_list":["post-12169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gambling","category-news","category-regulations","category-slider","tag-asset-seizures","tag-black-market","tag-crime-fighting-2","tag-cryptocurrency-2","tag-erdogan","tag-financial-crimes","tag-gaming-market","tag-gaming-networks","tag-illegal-gambling","tag-masak","tag-online-betting","tag-regulation","tag-turkey","tag-veysel-sahin"],"yoast_head":"\nCrackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey - SBC EURASIA EN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It appears that a significant development has occurred in President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s renewed campaign against the illegal gambling market.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey - SBC EURASIA EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It appears that a significant development has occurred in President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s renewed campaign against the illegal gambling market.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SBC EURASIA EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T12:32:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T12:32:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nika rostiashvili\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"nika rostiashvili\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"nika rostiashvili\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0\"},\"headline\":\"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T12:32:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-04T12:32:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/\"},\"wordCount\":382,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Asset Seizures\",\"Black Market\",\"Crime-Fighting\",\"cryptocurrency\",\"Erdo\u011fan\",\"Financial Crimes\",\"gaming market\",\"Gaming Networks\",\"illegal gambling\",\"MASAK\",\"Online Betting\",\"regulation\",\"Turkey\",\"Veysel \u015eahin\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Gambling\",\"News\",\"Regulations\",\"slider\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/\",\"name\":\"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey - SBC EURASIA EN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T12:32:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-04T12:32:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0\"},\"description\":\"It appears that a significant development has occurred in President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s renewed campaign against the illegal gambling market.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"SBC EURASIA EN\",\"description\":\"SBC EURASIA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0\",\"name\":\"nika rostiashvili\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6fc38973002f762373f92f910cfe28498ceddc953e76061e3ae8b8afd9144b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6fc38973002f762373f92f910cfe28498ceddc953e76061e3ae8b8afd9144b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"nika rostiashvili\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/author\/nika\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey - SBC EURASIA EN","description":"It appears that a significant development has occurred in President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s renewed campaign against the illegal gambling market.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey - SBC EURASIA EN","og_description":"It appears that a significant development has occurred in President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s renewed campaign against the illegal gambling market.","og_url":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/","og_site_name":"SBC EURASIA EN","article_published_time":"2026-02-04T12:32:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-04T12:32:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"nika rostiashvili","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"nika rostiashvili","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/"},"author":{"name":"nika rostiashvili","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0"},"headline":"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey","datePublished":"2026-02-04T12:32:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-04T12:32:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/"},"wordCount":382,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg","keywords":["Asset Seizures","Black Market","Crime-Fighting","cryptocurrency","Erdo\u011fan","Financial Crimes","gaming market","Gaming Networks","illegal gambling","MASAK","Online Betting","regulation","Turkey","Veysel \u015eahin"],"articleSection":["Gambling","News","Regulations","slider"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/","url":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/","name":"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey - SBC EURASIA EN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-04T12:32:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-04T12:32:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0"},"description":"It appears that a significant development has occurred in President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s renewed campaign against the illegal gambling market.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/resourcesen.sbceurasia.com\/sbccisen\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Erdogan.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/crackdown-on-the-black-market-new-seizures-in-turkey\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Crackdown on the Black Market: New Seizures in Turkey"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/","name":"SBC EURASIA EN","description":"SBC EURASIA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fe6263b3d6331caebf299a540ebfbdb0","name":"nika rostiashvili","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6fc38973002f762373f92f910cfe28498ceddc953e76061e3ae8b8afd9144b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6fc38973002f762373f92f910cfe28498ceddc953e76061e3ae8b8afd9144b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"nika rostiashvili"},"url":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/author\/nika\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12169"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12171,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12169\/revisions\/12171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbceurasia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}