A total of 36 people have been arrested and 16 more are wanted as the Turkish authorities led a crackdown into what was described as the illegal trafficking of egg cells, Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on Monday, with the trafficking rings said to be linked to Cyprus.

He explained that the Turkish authorities had received a tip-off, and that following an investigation led by the Istanbul Anatolian chief public prosecutor’s office, “findings were uncovered regarding the organised operation of illegal reproductive cell trafficking linked to Turkey, the TRNC, Albania and Georgia”.

This investigation, he said, revealed that “Turkish citizen women were directed abroad and engaged in egg sales in exchange for financial gain”.

“Within the scope of the investigation, it was determined that a total of 811 egg sales were conducted by 41 women,” he said.

As such, he said, judicial proceedings have been initiated against a total of 53 people – the 36 who were arrested, the 16 who are wanted, and one other individual who is already in prison. Of the 16 who are wanted, he said that seven are confirmed to be outside Turkey at present.

He said that those 53 people are “one organisation leader, five organisation managers, 41 donor women, two obstetrics and gynaecology specialists and four travel organisers”.

“No financial gain is above human dignity and bodily integrity. Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, we will resolutely continue our efforts to uncover all connections of criminal organisations, identify those responsible and ensure they are held accountable,” he said.

IVF children being conceived using wrong donors in Cyprus

The arrests are the latest episode in a difficult year for the Turkish Cypriot in vitro fertilisation industry, with the BBC having reported in August that at least 30 children have been conceived through IVF treatment using the wrong sperm or egg donors at clinics operated under the watch of the Turkish Cypriot authorities.

In all cases, it said that the children’s parents “carefully selected anonymous donors based in information such as their medical history, appearance, personality, education and hobbies”, but that “they have concerns that the requested sperm and egg donors may not have been used in their fertility treatments”.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Welle reported that IVF clinics operated under the watch of the Turkish Cypriot authorities were offering prospective parents the option of choosing their baby’s sex, with ruling party the UBP’s secretary-general Ahmet Savasan appearing to admit to the practice on camera.

He told Deutsche Welle that “we do not do sex selection in Cyprus for the sake of sex selection” but then was recorded telephoning someone and saying that “if there is a reference to sex selection on our website, you need to take it down”.

Later, when reporters visited an IVF clinic, they were told that they could select the sex of their child for €6,000.

Opposition political party CTP representative Dogus Derya said of the system in April that “the lack of oversight not only creates individual grievances but also undermines public trust and calls into question the healthcare system”.

She also said that the case “raises serious suspicions of abuse, particularly regarding the physical and economic rights of young women who donate eggs”.