Türkiye · Wednesday, 12 August 2026
49 detention orders in the inquiry into the Schengen visa appointment black market
The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office suspects visa consultancies of using bot software to seize consulate appointment slots in bulk and resell them. The tax inspection board found more than 2.84 billion lira moving through the companies' accounts between January 2024 and July 2026, of which about 918 million was collected from more than 41,000 people. Gendarmerie teams raided 63 addresses across six provinces on Tuesday.