OT: Turkey Bans Cigarettes in Bars

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

For four years now smoking in government buildings has been illegal in

Turkey but it was not enforced for those who worked there .. only for those

who visited to conduct business. The article is incorrect on the

percentage of people who smoke .. probably half of the women in Turkey are

social smokers .. they will light a cigarette and puff on it to be sociable

but like one of our previous presidents, they don't inhale. ;-) When one

visits the average Turkish home they are first offered Lemon Cologne to

refresh their hands and face, then a cup of coffee or tea and a pastry, and

then a cigarette. Rare is it that someone refuses the offer of the

cigarette.

 

My guess is that this new anti-smoking push will result in some public

protests and big money lobbying that could overturn the decision. If this

does not occur it will certainly result in selective enforcement .. and

probably the closure of my old watering hole, the Papsi Pub. ;-)

 

I also suspect that in time the AK Party will attempt to ban alcohol. Since

they came to power there are signs around the cities equating alcohol with

Satan .. alcohol is prohibited at official government functions and

obtaining new permits to serve liqueur have become difficult to obtain in

many municipalities where AK Party members serve as mayor. Some of these

AK Party members drink alcohol on the sly.. I have served alcohol to Ak

Party " teetotalers " in my home. ;-)

 

Even now some groups are saying that smoking and drinking Raki (distilled

grape juice flavored with anise) is a part of Turkey's heritage and that

the Father of the secular Republic of Turkey (Mustafa Kemal Ataturk) would

first roll over in his grave due to an Islamist political party ruling the

government .. and would keep rolling due to this latest push to

ban smoking. Ataturk was a chain smoker and a lover of Raki. Gonna be

interesting to watch the developments in what is supposed to be the world's

only democratic, secular, Western oriented country with a predominantly

Muslim population. ;-) Butch

Smokers' Haven Turkey Bans Cigarettes in Bars Thu Jan 3, 2008 1:59pm EST

 

By Gareth Jones

 

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament approved on Thursday a sweeping ban

on smoking in bars and restaurants, but commentators say enforcing the new

law could prove difficult in a nation long addicted to nicotine.

 

The ban will be implemented in full 18 months after President Abdullah Gul

has signed it into law.

 

The move, revolutionary for Turkey, comes hard on the heels of similar bans

this week by France and Germany. Many other members of the European Union,

which Turkey hopes to join, have also outlawed smoking in enclosed public

places.

 

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, known for his strong dislike of

tobacco, had championed the ban and parliament, where his ruling

Islamist-rooted AK Party has a big majority, endorsed the law by 240 votes

for and just two against.

 

The ban will include cigars, pipes and the traditional water pipe, or

nargile, a popular attraction for tourists visiting Istanbul and Turkey's

coastal resorts as well as for locals.

 

Smokers in Ankara were defiant ahead of the vote.

 

" This ban is disgusting. It is against individual freedom, " said Mustafa

Puskullu, 29, a sales advisor, enjoying a cigarette during lunch at an

Ankara shopping mall.

 

" I will certainly not comply with any ban, " he added.

 

Turkey is both a major producer and consumer of tobacco.

 

In the country of 75 million people, some 25 million smoke, working through

115 billion cigarettes a year, statistics show. Nearly two-thirds of men

smoke -- twice as many as in western Europe -- as well as 11 percent of

children aged 7 to 11.

 

Clouds of smoke hang in the air of most teahouses and bars as customers chat

over glasses of black tea or alcoholic beverages such as the

aniseed-flavored raki.

 

BIG BUSINESS

 

Major global firms are active in the Turkish market, including Philip Morris

-- which has a joint venture with Turkey's Sabanci Holding -- British

American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International.

 

The government is also pressing ahead with its sale of state tobacco firm

Tekel Cigarette, with a January 25 deadline for bids. Tekel has a 40 percent

share of the local market, with sales of $8 billion.

 

Health campaigners say one in five deaths in Turkey is caused by

tobacco-related illnesses which cost the relatively poor country some $2.7

billion annually. Erdogan's government has hiked taxes on tobacco to

discourage Turks from smoking.

 

As well as most enclosed public spaces, the ban will apply to some outdoor

locations such as stadiums and the gardens of mosques and hospitals and to

taxis and trains. Smoking is already banned on buses and planes.

 

The government resisted efforts by some lawmakers to water down the bill,

for example quashing an attempt to allow bars and restaurants to retain

restricted areas for smokers.

 

But enforcing the ban will not be easy.

 

" We are a society that can promulgate laws ranging from tax regulations to

traffic rules, from smoking restrictions to bans on torture, but we can't

implement them, " said columnist Murat Yetkin in Thursday's edition of the

liberal daily Radikal.

 

" The smoking ban must not remain only on paper, " he said.

 

Those flouting the smoking ban will face a fine of 57 lira ($49). Owners of

bars, cafes and restaurants where customers light up could be fined up to

5,000 lira.

 

Nuri Bayraktar, a 24-year-old bank employee, said: " I don't find this ban a

good idea. People should be left in peace. But I will have to abide by it

because I don't want to pay the fine. "

 

(Additional reporting by Selcuk Gokoluk and Emma Ross-Thomas; Editing by

Janet Lawrence)

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.