Turkey's Ministry of Trade has expanded existing advertising rules to prohibit promotions for illegal games of chance, alongside illegal betting and gambling.
The move is part of amendments to the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices.
The amended regulation also prohibits advertisements for services offered by fortune tellers, mediums and astrologers. According to the Ministry, the changes are intended to strengthen consumer protection and combat misleading and unlawful advertising practices across digital platforms.
It also extends an existing prohibition on advertisements for illegal betting and gambling to explicitly include illegal games of chance. The Ministry said the change is designed to prevent consumers from being directed toward illegal activities through advertising and commercial practices.
The Advertising Board has previously cited breaches of Turkey's Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices and the Consumer Protection Law when blocking access to accounts promoting illegal gambling.
In a statement, the Ministry of Trade said it would continue inspections against advertisements and commercial practices that mislead consumers, facilitate illegal commercial activity or create unfair competition.
The move follows a broader crackdown on illegal gambling in Turkey. According to the National Lottery Administration, authorities blocked more than 84,000 illegal gambling and betting websites in 2025. Casinos have been banned in Turkey since 1998, while non-state online gambling was outlawed in 2006.
The advertising changes follow a June operation where authorities identified TL193.37bn ($4.2bn) in transactions linked to suspected illegal gambling networks and launched legal proceedings against 104 suspects following coordinated operations across 27 provinces.
Turkish authorities recently identified $4.2bn in transaction volumes linked to suspected illegal gambling networks during a nationwide investigation
