Update: Turkish Punters Active Despite Restrictive Laws

Over 500 000 Turks play on at least 400 illegal internet gambling sites It seems like Turkish punters do not feel intimidated by the Turkish government's anti-online gambling measures, as new police studies report that the pastime is still thriving in the country. Namely, the authorities stated that over 500 000 Turks gamble on more than 400 illegal offshore websites and internet cafes. This is most likely thanks to the fact that gambling rings behind the websites set up special membership deals with the owners of Internet cafes and other specially set up venues. According to a Turkish newspaper, "Contrary to expectations, the results of the police operations show that gambling is more widespread in Turkey's more conservative southeastern and eastern provinces. "The servers for most of the companies uncovered in the police operations in Turkey are located in Cyprus, the Netherlands and England. Despite the fact that such websites are illegal in Turkey, members can access the sites through relatively simple steps, such as changing the DNS address or using online proxy servers." Apparently, the police is working on new investigations which aim at revealing the methods used to provide the various outlets for internet gambling in Turkey. So far, they know that Internet cafes offer gambling accounts on foreign gambling websites to prospective punters.