Turkish authorities combine to clamp down on internet gambling

Turkey’s Telecommunications Directorate and the country’s National Lottery have combined over the past five years to shut down 139 online gambling websites breaking the country’s laws against online wagering, reports the publication Hurriyet.

However, many more appear to have fallen through the enforcement net after the lottery laid complaints against 457 websites over the same period.

Hurriyet reports that since physical gambling houses were outlawed in 1997, cyber-gambling has blossomed, with the National Lottery forming a special section dubbed the Games of Hazard Department tasked with fighting illegal gambling online and with inhibiting related advertising and marketing efforts.

The Telecommunications authorities include ISP blocking in their armoury against illegal gambling sites.