Türkiye has canceled or withdrawn citizenship decisions covering 6,134 people over irregularities in its citizenship-by-investment program and national security or public order concerns, the Interior Ministry said on Monday, APA reports.
The ministry did not specify the period covered by the overall figure.
Turkey’s citizenship-by-investment program allows foreign nationals to apply for citizenship after purchasing property worth at least $400,000 and agreeing not to sell it for three years. Applicants must submit an officially recognized appraisal showing that the property meets the required value.
Turkey lowered the minimum property investment from $1 million to $250,000 in 2018 in an effort to attract foreign capital. The threshold was raised to $400,000 in 2022.
The Interior Ministry said investment eligibility certificates belonging to 1,150 investors had been canceled after investigators identified sham or otherwise irregular transactions, including the use of fraudulent property appraisal reports.
The cancellations affected the citizenship decisions of 5,391 people when investors’ family members were included.
The investigations were carried out by the Directorate General of Land Registry and Cadastre, the Tax Inspection Board and the Security Directorate General.
Separately, the ministry withdrew citizenship decisions covering 263 investors who were subsequently deemed a threat to public order or national security. Including their family members, that category covered 743 people.
Together, the two categories comprised 1,413 investors and 6,134 people including family members, the ministry said.
It added that since February 11, citizenship had been canceled for 1,393 people, including 458 investors and their relatives, after their investment eligibility certificates were revoked. Citizenship was withdrawn from another seven people on national security or public order grounds.
The announcement came hours after İstanbul prosecutors detained 72 suspects and put 30 companies under trustee management in a separate investigation into fraudulent property sales used to obtain Turkish citizenship.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the operation was the second phase of an İstanbul-based investigation and targeted transactions linked to Gül İnşaat AŞ, Beyaz İnşaat and LİV İnşaat.
Investigators examined property sales to 734 foreign nationals and concluded that 274 transactions were fraudulent, according to Gürlek.
They identified 1,070 people, including investors’ family members, who had acquired Turkish citizenship through the transactions. Another 11 people were initially reported to be in the process of obtaining citizenship.
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