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Turkish authorities launched proceedings to revoke the citizenship of 687 foreign nationals after uncovering an alleged scheme that used fraudulent property transactions to qualify applicants for Turkish citizenship, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced on Tuesday.
The investigation led to coordinated raids across 16 provinces centered in Istanbul, where 72 out of 90 suspects were detained as part of a broader probe into an organized criminal network.
According to the minister, the network allegedly inflated the value of low-priced properties using fake appraisal reports before arranging sham sales to meet the investment threshold for Turkish citizenship.
Investigators found that approximately ₺2.5 billion ($52.6 million) that should have entered Türkiye through qualifying investments never reached the country. Instead, they uncovered fabricated financial transactions while the suspects allegedly profited from foreign nationals seeking citizenship.
Authorities also seized seven companies, appointing trustees to oversee them, and confiscated 1,045 properties, a hotel in the Aegean resort town of Bodrum, 15 vehicles, a yacht and 10 bank accounts.
Türkiye grants citizenship to eligible foreign investors through its citizenship-by-investment program, including those who purchase real estate above a specified threshold and commit not to sell the property for at least three years.
The program also offers alternative investment routes, including fixed capital investments, bank deposits, government bonds and investment fund shares, each subject to minimum investment requirements and holding periods.
The minimum real estate investment required to qualify for citizenship was reduced from $1 million to $250,000 in September 2018 as part of broader efforts to attract foreign investment.
The threshold was raised to $400,000 in June 2022, after the government amended the regulation governing the citizenship-by-investment program. The three-year no-sale requirement remained in place.
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