568 Suspects Detained in Major Cybercrime Crackdown Across Turkey

Turkish police have detained 568 individuals in a large-scale cybercrime operation across 24 provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Wednesday.

In a statement shared on social media platform X, Yerlikaya said the 10-day operation targeted serious online crimes, including illegal betting, online fraud, child exploitation, money laundering, and digital theft.

The raids were carried out in coordination with public prosecutors and the Cybercrime Division of the Security Directorate General. Although the main operations focused on 24 provinces, they extended to 39 cities, including İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Antalya, Mardin, Şanlıurfa, Van, and Adana.

According to the minister, the suspects used social media and fake websites to deceive people with false promises of high returns. They are also accused of running illegal betting platforms, laundering money, and accessing mobile banking systems to steal funds.

Investigations have been launched into several crimes, such as aggravated online fraud, illegal betting, child pornography, organized crime, money laundering, and theft.

During the operation, police seized assets worth over 1.1 billion Turkish lira (around $34 million). These include 21 vehicles, 8 motorcycles, 28 plots of land, 9 homes or shops, and 11 gardens. Authorities also confiscated unlicensed firearms and a large amount of digital equipment.

The Interior Ministry called this one of the country’s biggest cybercrime operations and said that efforts to fight online criminal networks would continue.