Turkish police have detained 44 people this week in an investigation into a network accused of recruiting women to sell their eggs to fertility clinics abroad, the Demirören news agency reported.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced the operation on Monday, describing a network with links to Turkey, northern Cyprus, Albania and Georgia.
Investigators allege that organizers arranged medical examinations and hormone treatment for women in Turkey before sending them to clinics abroad to have their eggs retrieved.
The alleged network arranged 811 egg sales involving 41 women, Gürlek said.
Donors were reportedly paid €60 to €80 per egg, while organizers charged clinics around €100 each.
Investigators identified approximately €2 million in financial transactions linked to the operation, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Of the 53 suspects, 44 had been detained, one was already in prison and eight were being sought by police.
Police sent 43 detainees to court in İstanbul on Thursday and released one because of health problems.
The suspects are accused of offenses related to running or joining a criminal organization and trafficking in organs and tissues. At least three doctors were among those detained.
Separately, at least 30 children, most of them British, were feared to have been conceived at fertility clinics in northern Cyprus using sperm or eggs from donors other than those their parents selected, the BBC reported in August.
About half of those cases involved Doğuş IVF in Lefkoşa, the capital city of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). The clinic’s owner, Dr. Şevket Alptürk, denied any wrongdoing.
A connection between those cases and the alleged network under investigation in Turkey has not been established.
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