Political party officials fined for gambling in Turkey’s south

ADANA – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photos

Eight officials from a political party along with 87 others have been fined for gambling after police raided the office of a party in the southern province of Adana late July 28, less than a year after police raided the same location on similar allegations.

The officials from the Future Party of Turkey (GTP) as well as 87 other people were fined for gambling in a party office on Çakmak Street in Adana. The Adana Police Department had previously raided the building that had been used for gambling by the Rise of the Nationalist Will Party (MİY), the Trust Party (GP) and the Çukurova Labor Union for Workers in the Entertainment and Accommodation Sectors (ÇEK-İŞ), a fabricated organization that was used as a cover for gambling parties.

The police raided the building at 11 p.m. on July 28 on intelligence that the building was being used for gambling parties, breaking the wall with a sledgehammer after they received no response from inside when they rang the doorbell.

Police had raided the same building more than 100 times for gambling activities conducted by the GP, the MİY and the purported ÇEK-İŞ as ostensible political parties and labor unions were founded one after another following police raids.

The MİY was founded after the GP was closed following 44 police raids, and saw three raids by Jan. 9, following eight last year.

Police raided the provincial headquarters of the MİY in Adana on Jan. 9 after deducing that they party was a front to obfuscate illegal gambling activities.

Twelve people, including Öztürk Sezer, the head of the MİY, were detained in the police raid over the claim that they were the organizers of the gambling parties. 

Gambling is completely illegal in Turkey, apart from betting on certain sports. 

A total of 238 people were fined at the time for gambling in the double-raid, which also covered a district base. Others targeted in the raids were accused of providing a venue for gamblers and collecting unearned money.