Turkey has identified another 1,070 people who, according to the investigation, obtained Turkish citizenship through fake real estate transactions. This marks the second major wave of investigations into schemes involving the granting of citizenship through residential property investments.
Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced the new operation on September 21. The investigation is being conducted by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office in collaboration with police units responsible for combating illegal migration.
Investigators examined real estate transactions conducted through the companies Gül İnşaat, Beyaz İnşaat, and LİV İnşaat. The audit covered sales to 734 foreign nationals, with 274 transactions deemed fictitious or suspicious. The total value of the transactions exceeded 3.5 billion Turkish lira, or approximately $72 million.
According to the Turkish Ministry of the Interior, among the 1,070 people who obtained citizenship under these agreements, 263 were direct investors, while another 807 were their family members. Of these, 1,015 received citizenship at the same time as the initial decision, and another 55 children received it later. In addition, 11 individuals were identified whose citizenship application processes were still ongoing.
As part of the operation, judicial measures were applied to 2,011 real estate properties, one hotel, 86 vehicles, two yachts, and 42 bank accounts. State administrators were appointed to 30 companies. Legal proceedings have been initiated against 88 suspects, and dozens of people have been detained.
This is already the second wave of the investigation. The first major operation took place on August 4, 2026. At that time, the investigation established that another 687 people had obtained Turkish citizenship through artificially inflated appraisal reports and fictitious real estate sales. The prosecutor’s office has initiated proceedings to revoke their citizenship. In that case, authorities estimated the amount of investments that did not actually reach Turkey at approximately 2.5 billion lira.
Thus, the two most recent investigations in Istanbul alone involve at least 1,757 cases of citizenship acquisition linked to suspicious real estate transactions, when combining the 687 individuals from the first wave and the 1,070 from the second. However, these two figures pertain to specific criminal investigations and do not cover all reviews of investment-based citizenship in the country.
At the same time, the Turkish Ministry of the Interior has, for the first time, released broader statistics on the review of citizenship obtained through investment programs. According to the ministry, as of September 21, citizenship decisions had been revoked for 5,391 individuals, including investors and their family members. Additionally, citizenship was revoked after it had been granted for 743 individuals, specifically for reasons related to public order and national security. In total, this amounts to 6,134 individuals.
As of February 11, 2026, citizenship grants were separately revoked for 1,393 individuals associated with 458 investors whose documents certifying that their investments met the established requirements were annulled. Citizenship was also revoked from seven other individuals on grounds of national security and public order.
Turkish authorities have not published a breakdown of the 1,070 individuals implicated in the current investigation by their country of origin. No similar official breakdown was published regarding the 687 individuals identified in August either. Therefore, reports claiming a predominance of Russians, Iranians, citizens of Middle Eastern countries, or other nationalities in these specific cases are not currently supported by official documents.
The scheme being investigated by law enforcement agencies was based on fictitious or inflated real estate values and the simulation of required financial transactions. In some cases, real estate with a significantly lower actual value was valued much higher in the documents in order to formally meet the requirements of the citizenship-by-investment program.
Turkey allows foreign investors to apply for citizenship, specifically through the purchase of real estate valued at no less than $400,000. The property must meet established requirements, and the investment and flow of funds are subject to verification by government agencies.
