Turkey revoked CBI citizenship for 6,134 people: what is known about checks and seizures
The Turkish Ministry of Interior has canceled or revoked citizenship for 6,134 people who obtained it through the citizenship by investment (CBI) program. The relevant written statement was published on August 4. The document also breaks the figure down: 1,413 were identified as principal investors, while the rest involved spouses and children.
The revocations were divided into two groups based on different legal grounds. Checks carried out by the Land Registry and Cadastre General Directorate (TKGM), tax authorities and the Directorate of Security identified 1,150 investors who, according to investigations, took part in collusive or irregular transactions. Their documents proving eligibility for the program were invalidated, and—together with their families—citizenship was revoked for 5,391 people.
The second, smaller group was identified after naturalization had already taken place. Police and the National Intelligence Organization flagged 263 investors as objectionable from the standpoint of public order and national security. As a result, citizenship status was revoked for 743 people. At the same time, the statement clarifies that there are no allegations of document falsification against them: the issue is not defects in the investment procedure, but decisions made following the checks.
In 2026, the pace of tightening has accelerated noticeably. Starting February 11, 2026, the revoked eligibility documents led to citizenship being withdrawn from 443 investors and their family members—bringing the total affected in that step to 1,358 people. Another seven cases were linked to security-related decisions during the same period.
Two statements — two sets of figures
The Ministry of Interior’s information came shortly after a police operation that same day was described by the Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek. In an investigation focused on Istanbul and conducted by the organized crime unit under the city’s chief public prosecutor’s office, arrest warrants were issued for 90 suspects. Ultimately, 72 people were detained across 16 provinces.
According to the investigation, 1,045 real estate properties were seized, including a hotel in Bodrum. Authorities also confiscated 15 vehicles, a yacht, and 10 bank accounts. The court appointed administrators for seven companies.
The minister cited the amount that was supposed to reach Turkey under the investment scheme but did not: roughly 2.5 billion Turkish lira (about $52.6 million).
Gürlek also said that citizenship loss procedures were initiated for 687 individuals connected to the case. Those 687 relate to criminal proceedings, while 6,134 is the total across the entire program and is cumulative in nature. However, both sides did not clarify how much these lists overlap.
What citizenship revocation actually means
As its legal basis, the Ministry of Interior cites provisions of Articles 31 and 40 of Law No. 5901.
Article 31 governs cancellation (iptal) of citizenship: if citizenship was obtained through a false declaration or the concealment of material circumstances. The described cases involving misrepresentation of the assessed property value fall under this rationale.
Article 40 provides for revocation (geri alma) when it turns out that the legal conditions for obtaining citizenship were not actually met. This article is used for cases involving security risk assessments as well.
Article 32 explains how the decision is applied: cancellation affects the spouse and children who received citizenship through the main applicant. That is why 1,413 investors become 6,134 people in total. The dependents are not assessed separately based on their own actions.
Article 33 sets out the consequences: after citizenship is revoked, the person moves into the status of a foreigner under Turkish migration legislation. If the decision includes such a requirement, the investor must liquidate Turkish assets within one year. If the property is not sold, it is disposed of by the treasury, and the proceeds are credited to the relevant person’s account.
“You can’t pull the same scheme off today”
CIP Turkey co-founder Arán Hocker views what happened as a continuation of measures already underway rather than a “new discovery.” He calls it an “expansion of the scope of the previous operation,” which last September affected 451 investors.
In his view, investigations often let a “network” operate and then use the data obtained to identify new participants and methods. Hocker expects further cases because, based on his assessment, the scale of wrongdoing was significant.
At the same time, he places the described schemes in the early stage of the program. “All of this was happening when the program was being valued at $250,000,” he says. In his opinion, early on there were ways to exploit vulnerabilities, and Turkish authorities later “closed” loopholes and potential abuse points.
Hocker is confident the current scheme will not work: “You can’t pull the same scam off today,” and, in his assessment, the likelihood of a corruption “workaround” of the system has been reduced to zero.
CIP Turkey co-founder Taymur Polatding also sees the outcome as a deterrent: “Anyone trying to deceive the Turkish government will be caught—sooner or later.” He adds that “the vast majority of participants” follow the rules, which matters for the program’s long-term sustainability.
Why the old scheme stopped working
Turkey redesigned its property valuation assessment system twice after deals that came under investigation focus.
Under the changes, TKGM Circular 2024/2 (applied to reports requested from March 4, 2024) transferred exclusive valuation authority for citizenship purposes to Gayrimenkul Değerleme A.Ş. (GEDAŞ), which is owned by the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ). Valuers licensed by the Capital Markets Board (SPK) retain a role only in other categories of property acquisition by foreigners.
The second change closed the “paper trail.” Starting December 9, 2024, TKGM issues a Certificate for Determination of Amount (TTB) generated from the GEDAŞ report via an internal application and transmitted directly to the land registry system. A physically provided document form is not accepted at all.
As noted, this point is crucial: since December 2024, fake valuations can no longer enter the citizenship process “manually,” because the document confirming the investment amount is not handed to the applicant.
“No one will name the years”
However, the Ministry of Interior did not specify the dates to which the revocations apply. This gap stands out especially: if the issue involved “safely explainable” time windows, authorities would likely find it easier to provide a reassuring answer.
In Ankara’s statement, there is nevertheless an attempt to outline the boundaries. It argues that the matter involves attempts to falsify documents that existed even before the application was filed, and that staff at the Directorate of Population and Citizenship have no signs of weakness or negligence.
In Hocker’s description, the window for possible abuse is tied to the period between September 19, 2018, when the minimum real estate threshold was lowered to $250,000, and mid-June 2022, when an amendment published in the Official Gazette raised the threshold to $400,000. He says these were the years with the highest volume of applications, and they coincided with the private valuation system that is no longer used.
The share is unknown
How much this sample reflects the overall number of program participants is difficult to determine from public data. In work by Christine Surak (London School of Economics), figures attributed to the Ministry of Interior are cited: by the end of 2019, more than 5,000 investors had been naturalized, while up to 9,000 applications were still under review.
Subsequent years are mostly described using private estimates. And since Surak, in her research, characterizes the program as accounting for more than half of all CBI approvals worldwide, 6,134 remains a figure without a clear “denominator”—that is, without an exact share relative to the total number of approvals and applications.
The case of citizenship being withdrawn in Türkiye under a citizenship by investment (CBI) program highlights how crucial transparency of transactions and document accuracy are at every stage. If you’re considering investment-based residency/citizenship or have already applied, it’s worth assessing the risks of government checks in advance. The team at Digital Nomad will help you understand how the procedures work and build a safer approach—so your application file and investment basis align with what authorities expect.
Our Telegram channel about various types of Greek residence permits, digital nomad programs, and the Greek Golden Visa: @digitalnomadgr
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