Turkey in the dark on intensity of gambling youth & suicides

Summary

Yeşilay (The Green Crescent) has published the Türkiye Kumar Raporu 2025 (Gambling Report 2025) warning that gambling addiction in Turkey has grown in both prevalence and intensity, driven largely by digital platforms since the COVID-19 pandemic. The report highlights early exposure among young people, growing demand for counselling, severe psychological harms and a worrying link between gambling addiction and suicide attempts. It also flags the rise of illegal and offshore online platforms and suggests current legislation (Gambling & Sports Betting Law of 2007) is out of date relative to modern digital gambling formats.

Key Points

Yeşilay’s Gambling Report 2025 finds addiction has intensified post-pandemic, with digital channels (apps, online casinos, esports betting, loot boxes) the main drivers.
About 1-in-10 Turks aged 15+ gambled at least once in the past month; individuals as young as 15 are engaging despite the legal age of 18.
Between 2021 and 2024, over 15,600 people sought help for gambling addiction at YEDAM counselling centres; gambling now makes up 28% of addiction consultations.
Research in the report indicates roughly 20% of people with gambling addiction attempt suicide — a higher rate than for other addictions.
Illegal and offshore platforms are growing, exploiting gaps in regulation and bypassing domestic controls.
Political controversy (including the Papara scandal alleged to have channelled ₺12.9bn/€340m in illegal betting) raises questions about enforcement and potential protected interests.
Experts call for stronger digital regulation: licensing, mandatory self-exclusion, harm-reduction protocols and operator data-reporting to support public-health planning.

Context and relevance

This report matters to policymakers, public-health professionals and the iGaming sector. It underlines a broader international pattern where digital accessibility normalises gambling for younger cohorts, increases unregulated market activity and exposes households to financial and psychological harm. For regulators and operators, the findings signal an urgent need for updated laws, enforceable consumer-protection tools and centralised data collection if harms are to be mitigated.

Why should I read this?

Quick and blunt: if you care about kids, public health or the online gambling market, read it. Yeşilay’s report is a proper wake-up call — youth are getting hooked via apps and unregulated sites, suicides linked to gambling are alarmingly high, and the rulebook hasn’t kept pace with the tech. It’s short on policy recipes but heavy on evidence — worth your five minutes.

Author style

Punchy — the piece highlights a high-stakes public-health story with political reverberations. The facts are laid out sharply: rising youth exposure, a surge in counselling demand, and a regulatory vacuum that could compound harm unless addressed. If you’re involved in regulation, treatment services or industry compliance, the detail here is important.

Source

Source: https://igamingexpert.com/features/turkey-gambling-green/