Turkey prepping two-year anti-gambling campaign

Turkey is preparing to unleash a major anti-gambling campaign that organizers suggest could last as long as two years.

On Monday, pro-government media outlet the Daily Sabah reported that the Turkish government was plotting a major campaign to combat illegal gambling, both land-based and online. Police are coordinating with the Interior and Justice ministries as well as the Revenue Department on the campaign, the launch date of which wasn’t specified.

The campaign will require the assistance of the country’s banks to restrict local gamblers’ ability to move money on and off prohibited online gambling sites. Showing that it’s up with the times, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) will also attempt to target punters who attempt to fund their online gambling activity via ‘alternative spending methods,’ including the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether.

Similarly, the nation’s Information and Communications Technologies Authority (BTK) will monitor the interwebz for anyone promoting illegal gambling via search engines, or other advertising avenues, such as “internet pages that broadcast TV shows and pornographic material as a cover to advertise gambling sites.” So, all of them?