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• Smoking ban decreases cigarette sales  

The July 19 expansion of the smoking ban to include restaurants, cafes, teahouses and bars has resulted in a significant drop in cigarette sales, which were 5.4 percent lower in July 2009 than a year ago.

According to data from the Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Agency, or TAPDK, the July decrease in sales amounts to 89,478,000 fewer packages of cigarettes sold.

Professor Elif Dağlı, the chair of the National Committee on Cigarettes and Health, or SSUK, said the implementation of similar laws in other countries has been shown to reduce consumption by 8 to 10 percent in the first six months. In the United States, she said, long-term decreases in sales have climbed to 27 percent.

"A 5.4 percent decrease in the first stage is much lower than our target but inspires hope for the future," said Dağlı, who added that the organization believes the results will improve in a few years through the continued implementation of the ban.

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• Cafe owners shun smoking ban, say many kahvehanes may close down 

The “kahvehane” -- the traditional Turkish teahouse where whiskered men have smoked, drunk tea and played cards, backgammon and dominos for centuries -- has seen better days.

If it was not enough that the worst economic crisis in the past 60 years has ravaged the country's employment and consumption figures and driven down kahvehanes' customer base by up to 50 percent, the smoking ban, which came into full effect last month, has caused an estimated loss of an additional 20 percent of customers. Even Ramadan, a period when the kahvehanes have historically experienced an explosion in business, does not seem to be providing any respite to the plummeting business.

The situation of kahvehane owners has deteriorated so badly in the aftermath of the smoking ban that they have threatened political action ranging from sit-ins to strikes or even hunger strikes if the government does not address their concerns.

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• Turks rally against smoking ban 

Hundreds of Turks have taken to the streets of Ankara to protest against a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants which was brought in last month.

Many of the protesters are cafe owners who say the ban is hurting trade and want smoking to be allowed in special areas of their establishments.

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• Coffeehouse owners to demonstrate against smoking ban 

Coffeehouse owners are preparing to hold a demonstration next week against Turkey's indoor smoking ban, claiming that sales decreased since the ban went into effect on July 19. Murat Ağaoğlu, head of the Turkey Coffeehouses and Refreshment Stand Owners' Federation, stated yesterday that they are planning to have a protest in Ankara on Aug. 18.

“Our government did not take into consideration small-scale retailers' worries while adopting laws and regulations regarding a smoking ban one year ago. As representatives of small-scale retailers, we told the administrations our reservations. . . .

“Because of the ban, our coffeehouse owners are in a difficult position. They cannot pay their debts; they cannot conduct their business as easily as in the past,” he pointed out, adding that they are not against the smoking band but demand that smokers should be taken into consideration as much as nonsmokers.

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• Turkey: Anti-Smoking Advocates Pleased with Early Results of Restaurant/Bar Ban 

It's just over three weeks since a ban on smoking tobacco products indoors took hold in Turkey. Despite initial concern about how the public would react to prohibition, anti-smoking campaigners are so far delighted with the early results.

Now that the ban is in effect, authorities are shifting attention to enforcement, while continuing efforts to educate smokers and owners about the legislation, as well as raise awareness about the health risks associated with smoking. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. A nationwide team of over 4,000 anti-tobacco officers, comprising local officials and law-enforcement authorities, is responsible for following up on calls to hotlines, and for performing spot checks on establishments. An estimated 20,000 spot checks occurred during the first two weeks of the ban. These surprise visits indicated that 94 percent of the establishments inspected were conforming to the new rules; a figure that is a source of satisfaction for authorities.

But early implementation success is not breeding complacency within the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been an outspoken proponent of the ban.

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• Smoking leads to murder 

A smoker shot one man dead and wounded another after he was told to stub out his cigarette at a restaurant in Turkey in line with a recent government ban, the Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday.

The gunman was drinking and smoking with friends in a restaurant in the town of Kumkuyucak, in the western province of Manisa, when the manager and his friend told them to put out their cigarettes, mayor Veli Yalcin told the agency.

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• Turkey Extends Smoking Ban to Bars and Restaurants (Update1) 

About 35 percent of adult Turks smoke, including more than half the men in the country of 72 million, according to figures from the Health Ministry in Ankara. That compares with about 26 percent of EU citizens who smoke regularly, according to a European Commission study published in March.

Turkey’s government collects about $8.5 billion a year in taxes on tobacco products, and spends about half that amount treating smoking-related illnesses, according to Toker Erguder, who runs the World Health Organization’s tobacco-control project in Turkey.

The perception that Turks are inseparable from their tobacco is enshrined in several European languages in which the phrase “to smoke like a Turk” denotes heavy consumption.

“Smoking is one of the most pressing needs of a Turk,” the French novelist Theophile Gautier wrote after a visit to Istanbul in 1852.

The Turkish cigarette market may shrink about 5 percent as a result of the ban, Hurriyet newspaper reported today, citing an executive at British American Tobacco Plc’s unit in the country. BAT and Philip Morris International Inc., the world’s largest publicly traded cigarette maker, are among companies that make cigarettes in Turkey.

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• Turkey extends smoke ban to bars, restaurants 

Patrons of a usually smoke-filled hookah bar stepped outside to light up Sunday as Turkey extended a ban on indoor public smoking to bars, restaurants and coffeehouses.

The ban in this nation of smokers came into effect at midnight Saturday despite protests from bar and coffeehouse owners who fear it will ruin businesses that have already been hit by the economic crisis.

"The country woke up this morning having carried out a cigarette revolution," an editorial in the newspaper Radikal read.

"Smokeless life has begun," was the headline on the Milliyet paper.

In Ankara's Sakarya street — famed for its fast food outlets, bars and beer halls — owners staged a brief protest saying many of the businesses there risked bankruptcy.

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• Zero tolerance for smokers starts today 

Jul 19, 2009

As of today, the use of tobacco products is prohibited in indoor cafes, bars and restaurants across the country in the final phase of a determined government plan to reduce the public health risks posed by smoking.

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In one of the 10 countries in which two-thirds of all tobacco is consumed globally, Turkey's Law No. 4207 on the Prevention of the Harmful Effects of Tobacco and Tobacco Products now prohibits smoking in all indoor public areas, requiring that buildings have an appropriate outdoor space if they wish to allow smoking. Inspectors are also to perform surprise checks on businesses that smokers frequent to ensure the law is being enforced.

The introductory phase of the smoking ban prohibited smoking in all facilities of education, entertainment, health and sports as well as on public transportation -- including taxis -- as of May 19, 2008. Today, that ban has been extended to include restaurants, coffeehouses, cafeterias and bars.

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• Turkey readies for drastic smoking ban 

Turkey will on Sunday introduce a tight ban on smoking in cafes, restaurants and bars, wielding fines for offenders, in a bid to break a national habit blamed for tens of thousands of deaths each year.

The ban is an extension of existing legislation introduced by the Islamist-rooted government, which prohibited smoking in workplaces and public spaces in May last year while giving cafes and restaurants 18 months to adjust.

Now that the transition period expires on July 19, the owners of these establishments have to clear up ashtrays, put up signs against smoking and refuse to serve clients who insist on lighting up.

Although the legislation allows smoking in the courtyards of these premises, the site in question should not be covered with even a sunshade or awning in order to qualify as an open space.

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• ‘Smoke like a Turk?’ Not after looming ban 

Smokers in Turkey tempted to flout an imminent ban in cafes, restaurants and bars will be spared a death sentence — but their prime minister insists the battle against cigarette usage is as crucial as the "struggle against terrorism."

Sultan Murad IV is said to have roamed the streets of 17th-century Istanbul ordering the execution of those who defied a smoking ban aimed at curbing coffee house sedition.

One of the world's oldest prohibitions of smoking, Murad's failed and as tobacco's popularity grew in Turkey, the saying "smoke like a Turk" took root in languages across Europe.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is now the driving force behind the next phase of a popular ban taking effect on July 19, which aims to curb the habit in a country where 22 million people, including around half the adult male population, smoke.

But at a time of economic crisis, the prohibition — adding restaurants, cafes and bars to the places where smoking is not allowed — is viewed by some as a potential assault on their culture.

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• 4,500-person team to enforce Turkish smoking ban  

Turkey's government is setting up a 4,500-strong team to help enforce an upcoming no-smoking ban in bars, restaurants and coffeehouses in this country of heavy smokers, a Health Ministry official said Thursday.

On July 19, a year-old ban on indoor public smoking will be widened to include bars, restaurants, and even smoky, hazy village coffeehouses and hookah bars, despite protests from owners who fear it will bring ruin to businesses already suffering from the effects of an economic crisis. The ban already covers offices, public transport and shopping malls.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government - keen to reduce smoking rates and the effects of second-hand smoke on people's health - has dismissed the protests and calls for the ban to be postponed.

A Health Ministry official said the force would carry out surprise checks on bars, restaurants and coffeehouses

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• Employers, employees, all support smoking ban, poll shows 

A recent poll has indicated that employers, their employees and customers generally support the to-be-implemented smoking ban in cafes, bars and restaurants.

The survey, conducted by the Association of Public Health Experts (HASUDER) revealed widespread support for the new ban. The study showed that 89.9 percent of all employers and employees of establishments that will be smoke-free areas under the law are in favor of the ban. Their customers also showed strong approval of the law, which will come into effect on Sunday. A full 85.9 percent of respondent customers said they support the application of the ban.

With the amendment made to Law 4207 on Prevention of Tobacco's and Tobacco Products' Harms, smoking will not be permitted in indoor sections of cafes, bars, restaurants and the like.

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• Turks Support Smoking Ban, Doubt Its Enforcement, Poll Shows  

Ninety percent of Turks support a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants that will come into force this month, a poll showed.

More than half the respondents also said that they were concerned the July 19 ban won’t be properly enforced, according to the poll of 600 people by Istanbul-based Quirk Global Strategies published today.

About 35 percent of all adult Turks smoke, including more than half the men in the country of 72 million.

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• Istanbul Hazily Heads Toward Smoking Ban  

a ban on lighting up indoors will take effect on July 19, a change that will surely please smoke-averse travelers.

But customers and business owners alike are unsure of how, or even whether, the no-smoking rules will be applied. Turkey remains a major producer of tobacco, cigarettes are relatively affordable, and cities like Istanbul are dotted with smoked-filled water-pipe cafes where young and old alike gather to puff scented smoke, play backgammon and catch up with friends.

Umit Unal, manager of the Parma Cafe in the American Bazaar section of the Tophane neighborhood in Istanbul, isn’t rushing to make any changes.

“Nothing is clear,” he said recently, as customers lounging on pink and purple bean-bag chairs inhaled fruit-flavored smoke from ornate glass water pipes. “I really don’t know what to do, or what to expect when the law goes into effect. I’m assuming that we’ll have to stop people from smoking inside, but for now, nobody has a plan.’’

Part of the problem is in the definition of “inside.” At Parma, one of several nargile cafes in a block-long stretch of them, people sit under striped awnings or in the open air, sipping tea and inhaling. . . .

Many in Istanbul are embracing the changes.

“The smoking ban is the only thing I support from this government,’’ a 30-year-old actor said as she read a newspaper at a cafe in the trendy Cihangir neighborhood.

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