In Turkey, another 1,070 people were identified who, according to investigators, obtained the country's citizenship through fictitious real estate transactions. This is already the second major wave of investigations into citizenship schemes via investment in housing.
On a new operation on September 21, the Minister of Justice of Turkey, Akin Gurlek, reported, according to Open4Business.
The investigation is led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office together with police units combating illegal migration.
Investigators examined real-estate deals made through companies Gül İnşaat, Beyaz İnşaat and LIV İnşaat. The checks covered sales to 734 foreign nationals, with 274 agreements being deemed fictitious or suspicious. The total value of the transactions exceeded 3.5 billion Turkish lira, or about $72 million.
According to Turkey’s Ministry of Interior (MoI) data, of the 1,070 people who obtained citizenship under these agreements, 263 were the direct investors, while another 807 were members of their families. Of those, 1,015 people received citizenship at the same time as the main decision, and 55 children later. In addition, 11 people were identified for whom the citizenship-granting process was still ongoing.
As part of the operation, court measures were applied to 2,011 real-estate properties, one hotel, 86 cars, two yachts, and 42 bank accounts. Government trustees were appointed in 30 companies. Procedural actions were initiated against 88 suspects, and dozens of people were 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 found that Turkish citizenship had been granted to another 687 people through artificially inflated valuation reports and fictitious property sales. The prosecutor’s office initiated proceedings to annul their citizenship.
In that case, the authorities estimated the amount of investment that had not actually been received in Turkey at roughly 2.5 billion lira.
Thus, only in the last two Istanbul investigations there are already at least 1,757 cases of citizenship being granted linked to suspicious real-estate transactions, if you add 687 people from the first wave and 1,070 people from the second. At the same time, these two figures relate to specific criminal investigations and do not cover all checks of investment citizenship in the country.
At the same time, Turkey’s Ministry of Interior (MoI) for the first time released more extensive statistics on citizenship granted through investment programs. According to the ministry, as of September 21, decisions to grant citizenship had been revoked for 5,391 people, including investors and members of their families. Citizenship was also withdrawn for another 743 people after it had been granted, including for reasons related to public order and national security. Overall, this involved 6,134 people.
Starting February 11, 2026, decisions to grant citizenship were separately revoked for 1,393 people associated with 458 investors whose documents confirming investment compliance with the established requirements had been annulled. For another seven people, citizenship was revoked on grounds of national security and public order.
The Turkish authorities did not publish a breakdown of the 1,070 individuals in the current investigation by citizenship country of origin. A similar official breakdown was also not published for the 687 people identified in August.
Therefore, claims about the predominance of Russians, Iranians, citizens of Middle Eastern countries, or other nationalities in these specific cases are not currently corroborated by official materials.
The scheme investigated by law-enforcement agencies was based on fictitious or inflated property values and the simulation of the required financial transactions. In some cases, real estate with a substantially lower actual value was assessed in documents at a much higher price in order to formally meet the requirements of the citizenship-by-investment program.
Turkey allows foreign investors to apply for citizenship, including when purchasing real estate worth at least $400,000. At the same time, the property must meet the established requirements, and the investment and transfer of funds are verified by government authorities.
