By Nazlan Ertan
Kumar (Gambling, noun) derives from Arabic and is forbidden in Islam, as spelled out in Surah al-Maidah of the Quran, where gambling is condemned alongside wine and idolatry. The aim? To incite enmity, foster distraction, and veer Muslims away from prayer.
Fast forward to modern-day, secular Turkey, where gambling has made headlines once more. This time, TV personality Mehmet Ali Erbil and pop singer Serdar Ortaç, notorious for their sketchy reputations, were busted for illegal betting. The outcome? House arrest—a promising move for Erbil, an alleged serial harasser.
Back in Ottoman times, gambling had its allure despite strict prohibitions. Though “haram,” card games, dice, and even bets on wrestling drew crowds to coffeehouses. While periodic crackdowns occurred, the habit was tough to beat. Under the Tanzimat reforms (1839–1876), however, gambling became formally criminalized, with punishments from prison time to public whippings, especially for soldiers. The Military Penal Code of 1869 laid down harsh penalties for military personnel caught rolling dice, aiming to safeguard discipline.
With the secular Republic, gambling took on a new identity. Atatürk himself loved card games (bridge and poker, in particular), making after-dinner card games part of social life. The 1933 musical Lüküs Hayat captured the shift to the new elite embracing the thrill of a good hand.
Soon, the state formalized gambling with the National Lottery, Milli Piyango, established in 1939. New Year’s Eve became synonymous with lottery lines, as hopeful Turks dreamed of escaping their daily grind. Lotteries became a state-approved outlet for luck-seeking, framed as “respectable” and a source of social unity.
Horse racing followed suit in 1953, with the Türkiye Jokey Kulübü (Turkish Jockey Club). The state-sanctioned races became a patriotic pastime that celebrated Turkey’s equestrian heritage while padding government coffers.
In the late 1980s, casinos burst onto the scene, filling southern cities with wealthy tourists. For a while, Antalya’s casinos became a roulette-fueled paradise. But by 1998, under pressure from conservatives concerned about crime and corruption, the government shut them all down. Overnight, Turkey’s casinos were gone, and gambling was cast back into the shadows.
With casinos off-limits, Turkish casino owners turned to Cyprus, Batumi, and Romania, opening establishments abroad. Some AKP members and their families - including ex-PM Binali Yildirim’s son - proved to be regulars. Clearly, in this age of smart phones and social media, what happens in Vegas does not remain in Vegas.
Back home, the tourism sector lobbied to reopen casinos (at least for foreign visitors), but the AKP government has stood firm, even amid a currency crunch.
Gambling Turks turned to lotteries, with the National Lottery and its kind soaring in the 2010s. Toward the end of the decade, the government decided to privatize the lottery system to increase revenue and streamline operations. Sisal Şans, a joint venture formed in 2019 between Italian gaming company Sisal and Demirören Holding, was awarded a ten-year license to operate the Turkish lottery, guaranteeing the Turkish government a minimum annual contribution, initially set at TRY 9.32 billion (approx. $1.67 billion)
Sisal Şans not only handles the national lottery but has expanded into digital operations, allowing players to access lottery games online. But the faith in the fairness of the lottery system declined considerably, with a drop of 50 percent in lottery tickets. The drop had been around 74 percent in the immediate aftermath of the deal.
Turkey’s gamblers turned online. Betting platforms sprang up faster than authorities could track, allowing Turks to bet on everything from soccer to foreign lotteries. The 2010s saw stricter controls as the government blocked illegal sites and issued fines. Yet, with VPNs and tech tricks, gamblers found workarounds, sparking an ongoing game of digital hide-and-seek with authorities.
