ANKARA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities have dismantled an organized criminal ring accused of conducting fraudulent real estate sales to enable foreigners to obtain Turkish citizenship, Türkiye's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Wednesday.
A total of 106 suspects were detained in simultaneous operations carried out across 19 provinces, with Istanbul at the center of the investigation, said Yerlikaya on the social media platform X, without specifying the timeframe of the operations.
The suspects face charges including forming and joining a criminal organization, migrant smuggling, laundering of illicit assets, qualified fraud, and forging official documents, he said.
The Turkish minister emphasized that the crackdown targeted networks engaged in "collusive property sales" designed to help foreign nationals obtain Turkish citizenship unlawfully.
The suspected ringleader, identified as M.A., and his network allegedly organized fraudulent real estate transactions that enabled 451 foreigners and their families to acquire Turkish citizenship unlawfully, he explained, adding that the authorities have already initiated procedures to revoke these citizenships.
Assets belonging to the suspects were also seized, including a holding group, five joint-stock companies, 1,240 apartments, 47 cars, 65 land plots, and multiple bank accounts, he noted.
Under Turkish law, foreign nationals are eligible to apply for citizenship if they purchase real estate worth at least 400,000 U.S. dollars and hold the property for a minimum of three years. The scheme has attracted thousands of applicants in recent years, particularly from the Middle East, Asia, and Russia. ■