Minister Gürlek: The state will come down hard on gangs

Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek stated, "The size of criminal organizations, their international connections, financial power, or the complexity of the technology they use cannot deter us from our path. The resources of our state, the experience of our institutions, and the power of the law are superior to any criminal structure."

Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek and Minister of Interior Mustafa Çiftçi arrived in Esenyurt for a series of visits and inspections. The ministers were welcomed in the district by Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, Provincial Police Chief Selami Yıldız, Esenyurt District Governor Fatih Çobanoğlu, and Deputy Mayor of Esenyurt Can Aksoy. Gürlek and his accompanying delegation first visited the Esenyurt District Governorate. Gürlek then conducted inspections at the Esenyurt District Police Department and visited the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Park.

As part of the program, Gürlek inspected the construction work at the courthouse currently being built in Esenyurt and received information from officials.

"The state will come down on you and do what is necessary"

Following his inspections at the courthouse under construction, Minister Gürlek made statements to the press. Addressing issues such as the fight against street gangs, a 'Terror-Free Turkey,' and 'narcotics' in his speech, Minister Gürlek said, "While Esenyurt continues to develop rapidly, it is a district that frequently comes to the agenda with public order incidents. As the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Turkey, it is our primary duty to protect the peace and security of this distinguished district and to keep the rights and laws of our citizens under guarantee. I want to emphasize once again our determination to address all illegal structures that want to centralize crime in Esenyurt and all issues that are the Istanbul focus of these structures. Let everyone know—from the street-level dealer to the baron, from the hitman to the instigator, and those involved in individual and organized virtual gambling—that we are after you. Your actions will not go unpunished. On behalf of the Turkish nation, we will certainly hold you accountable within the framework of the law. Never think the field is empty. The state is here and stands with its citizens. Justice means our citizens feeling safe on their streets, protecting our youth from drug traffickers, ensuring that hard-earned money is not handed over to illegal betting and fraud networks, and preventing the proceeds of crime from infiltrating the legitimate economy. We will continue to prevent street gangs from using our children and youth, whose mental faculties have been hijacked by their dirty minds, as tools for extortion and threats against the honest trade of our citizens. Let those who see themselves above the power of the state and who want to threaten the peace of society and the life and property security of our citizens know this well: the state will come down on you and do what is necessary."

"Our approach to the fight is not a daily one"

Minister Gürlek stated, "As the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Turkey, we established the Department of Organized, Narcotic, and Economic Crimes on April 24, 2026. Thus, we have brought specialization, data analysis, and coordination between chief public prosecutor's offices into a permanent institutional structure. On June 22, 2026, we issued our circular on 'Combating Organized Crime Organizations.' With this circular, we created a common framework for conducting investigations holistically, monitoring proceeds of crime, effectively implementing asset measures, and coordinating between provinces. Our approach to the fight is not a daily one. This approach is a determined struggle that does not settle for just opening a file, but follows the evidence, tracks the money, searches for fugitives abroad, and aims to make the crime economy unsustainable."

"We are rapidly implementing the infrastructure that will enable faster and more effective combat against crime and criminal organizations"

Touching upon the efforts carried out within the scope of the fight against criminal organizations, Minister Gürlek said, "In the fight against narcotics, street gangs, and virtual gambling crimes, we base our method on an organized struggle that reveals the responsibility of all links in the criminal chain. In this direction, we are developing practical field working methods in an integrated manner with our relevant institutions, primarily our Ministry of Interior. We are rapidly implementing the infrastructure that will enable faster and more effective combat against crime and criminal organizations. From here, I call out once again to the enemies of the state and the nation: the manifestation of justice will now be faster and more determined. With the work of our Department of Organized, Narcotic, and Economic Crimes and the coordination of our 81 Provincial Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices, thousands of operations were carried out against narcotics, illegal betting, virtual gambling, and organized crime structures in the February-July period of 2026. Proceedings were initiated against tens of thousands of suspects, a large number of suspects were arrested, and judicial control measures were applied to many others."

"We are determined to go all the way against every criminal structure that plagues our nation, whether individual or institutional in form"

Minister Gürlek said, "While our fight against organized crime organizations has been further strengthened in line with our circular dated June 22, hundreds of millions of liras in proceeds of crime, large amounts of foreign currency, narcotics and production inputs worth billions of liras, and thousands of real estate properties, vehicles, bank accounts, companies, and financial businesses have been included in investigation and seizure processes. While necessary actions are being taken regarding illegal betting sites and crypto asset accounts, the total transaction volume detected has exceeded one trillion Turkish liras. The details of the operations and current data are shared with the public through the official publication channels of our Ministry of Justice. Each of these figures represents comprehensive investigations, meticulous evidence-gathering processes, and the intense efforts of our public prosecutors and law enforcement units. This picture tells us this: organized crime is not just a matter of public order; it is also a massive issue of shadow economy and money laundering. For this reason, we will continue to focus not on the visible face of crime, but on the financial veins that feed it. An organization that cannot protect its proceeds of crime, cannot put its money into the system, and cannot use its real estate and company cannot survive. We are determined to go all the way against every criminal structure that plagues our nation, whether individual or institutional in form. We are ready to destroy all the front structures they have in their hands."

"The resources of our state, the experience of our institutions, and the power of the law are superior to any criminal structure"

Emphasizing the fight against virtual betting, Minister Gürlek said, "We are now moving to a new dimension in the fight against the scourge of drugs, virtual betting, and gambling, and street gangs that threaten our youth, children, families, and citizens from all walks of life, poison the future generations of our country, collapse our nuclear families economically, and disrupt our trade and economy. We will address the deficiencies in our legal system and demonstrate the guarantee of life and property security to our citizens with the seriousness of the state in the strongest way possible. In the coming period, we will focus particularly on five areas. We will increase specialization in the tracking and recovery of proceeds of crime. We will strengthen our technical capacity against money laundering methods carried out through crypto assets, electronic money institutions, and digital payment systems. We will accelerate international judicial assistance, extradition, and joint investigation processes. We will support the expertise of our prosecutors in the fields of organized crime, narcotics, and financial analysis with continuous training. We will combine the field experience of our provinces with a common data and analysis infrastructure. For this reason, we will get to the capillaries of all illegal structures, including drug networks, virtual betting and gambling structures, and street gangs, hold them accountable, and go after them using all the powers granted to us by the laws. May our nation be at ease. The size of criminal organizations, their international connections, financial power, or the complexity of the technology they use cannot deter us from our path. The resources of our state, the experience of our institutions, and the power of the law are superior to any criminal structure. I would like to thank our public prosecutors, judges, police and gendarmerie organizations, Coast Guard and customs units, MASAK and Forensic Medicine Institute experts, and all the employees of our ministry who work selflessly in this struggle. I also express my gratitude to the counterpart institutions that contribute to international cooperation processes. Our goal is clear: a Turkey where crime is not a source of income, our youth are protected from poison, the labor of our citizens is under guarantee, and everyone is equal before the law. We will continue to work towards this goal with perseverance, patience, and without deviating from the law."