A report by Turkish newspaper BirGün, published on 13 August 2025, alleged that officials at the Population Directorate had turned the office into an "identity market." The report said that officials printed and sold identity cards and passports to foreigners using citizens' personal data, altering their photographs and fingerprints in the registry system.
The scheme came to light when citizens applying for new identity cards were told they had already been issued new cards in Kilis, Turkey. Complaints from various cities, including Manisa and Istanbul, were sent to the Kilis Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
At least 22 passports and 8 identity cards were fraudulently issued using citizens' identity information.
Murat and Tarık Avcı were identified as intermediaries who facilitated the fraudulent issuance of the documents. The officials involved were Mehmet Bars, the Kilis Central District Population Director; Vedat Kaya, a Data Preparation and Control Operator; and Mahmut Apaydın, office personnel. They carried out the transactions through the directorate's computer system. Phone records showed that the suspects frequently communicated with the officials.
The investigation file was sent to Istanbul, and an indictment was prepared on 20 March 2024. The indictment charged the suspects with "aggravated official document forgery by a public official and incitement to official document forgery by a public official." The case is being heard at the Istanbul 29th Heavy Penal Court, and all defendants are being tried without detention.
At the 13th hearing on 19 June, the prosecutor presented his final opinion, stating that the forged documents were issued using the identity information of people whose biometric data were not in the system, who had lived abroad for a long time, or who had not obtained new-generation identity cards. The prosecutor said this created official documents whose forgery could not be detected at first glance. He requested that Mahmut Apaydın, Mehmet Bars, and Vedat Kaya be convicted of "official document forgery by a public official."
The hearing was adjourned to 16 October 2026. The involved Population Directorate officials were suspended from duty.
