Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that, as part of efforts to combat cybercrime, 170 suspects have been apprehended in the past five days, with 55 of them formally arrested.
In a statement on his NSosyal account on Monday, Sept. 22, Minister Yerlikaya said that operations targeting “online child exploitation and abuse,” “qualified fraud,” “illegal betting” and “qualified theft” across 18 provinces led to the arrest of 55 suspects, while 34 others were placed under judicial control and investigations for the remaining suspects are ongoing.
He added that five companies, seven residences and 10 vehicles, worth approximately TL 341 million ($8.24 million), believed to have been acquired through criminal activity, were confiscated.
Yerlikaya further explained: “The suspects were found to possess child sexual abuse material, defrauding citizens using themes such as ‘rental bungalows, account usage, investment consultancy and furniture sales,’ operate illegal betting and gambling, facilitate and advertise illegal money transfers, and gain unlawful access to citizens’ mobile banking accounts.”
He noted that the operations were carried out across Adana, Afyonkarahisar, Antalya, Bingöl, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Iğdır, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Malatya, Mardin, Mersin, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, Tunceli and Yozgat and that prosecutors have initiated investigations into the suspects.
Minister Yerlikaya emphasized: “The strongest shield against cybercrime is awareness. Please report suspicious situations to our 112 Emergency Call Center so that we can take the necessary action.”
