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Smoking in Turkey
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Smoking in Turkey
More than a quarter of adults in Turkey smoke. Smoking in Turkey is banned in government offices, workplaces, bars, restaurants, cafés, shopping malls, schools, hospitals, and all forms of public transport, including trains, taxis and ferries. Turkey's smoking ban includes provisions for violators, where anyone caught smoking in a designated smoke-free area faces a fine and bar owners who fail to enforce the ban could be fined a larger amount.
Tobacco is grown and cigarette factories use 11% local tobacco as of 2023. Traditionally oriental tobacco was grown but nowadays cigarette manufacturers prefer Virginia, which requires irrigation. Smoking is a major cause of poor health in Turkey. Often locally grown tobacco is rolled illegally to avoid taxes. Rolling machines can easily be bought. Also there is illegal waterpipe tobacco.
Manufacture and commercial import of e-cigarettes is banned, so only combustible cigarettes with deadly smoke are made and sold legally. As of 2023 health impact assessment is not done in Turkey. A 2024 study said the country was almost ready for a tobacco endgame.
Smoking was first banned in 1997 in public buildings with more than four workers, as well as airplanes and public buses.
On 3 January 2008, Turkey passed a smoking ban for all indoor spaces including bars, cafés and restaurants. It also bans smoking in sports stadia, and the gardens of mosques and hospitals. The smoking ban came into force on 19 May 2008; however, bars, restaurants and cafes were exempted until mid-July 2009. On 19 July 2009, Turkey extended the indoor public smoking ban to include bars, restaurants, village coffeehouses and hookah bars.
The ban also forbids smoking advertising and the depiction of people smoking on television. Many foreign programmes or films that have scenes with characters smoking will usually have the cigarettes blurred out. In December 2018 the law was changed to require plain packaging of all tobacco products. Health warnings messages and images must cover both sides of packages and at least 85% of the packaging.
Progress is still being made in educating the public about the law. Actual enforcement of the ban is still being implemented. The president of the Istanbul branch of the Environmental Engineers' Chamber (ÇMO), Eylem Tuncaelli, said that the smoking ban is a way for political leaders to avoid dealing with the country's real air pollution problems.
Prevalence of tobacco use is above average. Over a quarter of Turks smoke - a higher proportion than EU countries except Greece and Bulgaria. Surprisingly, there is evidence to suggest that the rate of smoking among pregnant women in Turkey is between 8-12%. Whereas globally, smoking in pregnant women occurs in only about 1.7% of pregnancies.
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Smoking in Turkey
More than a quarter of adults in Turkey smoke. Smoking in Turkey is banned in government offices, workplaces, bars, restaurants, cafés, shopping malls, schools, hospitals, and all forms of public transport, including trains, taxis and ferries. Turkey's smoking ban includes provisions for violators, where anyone caught smoking in a designated smoke-free area faces a fine and bar owners who fail to enforce the ban could be fined a larger amount.
Tobacco is grown and cigarette factories use 11% local tobacco as of 2023. Traditionally oriental tobacco was grown but nowadays cigarette manufacturers prefer Virginia, which requires irrigation. Smoking is a major cause of poor health in Turkey. Often locally grown tobacco is rolled illegally to avoid taxes. Rolling machines can easily be bought. Also there is illegal waterpipe tobacco.
Manufacture and commercial import of e-cigarettes is banned, so only combustible cigarettes with deadly smoke are made and sold legally. As of 2023 health impact assessment is not done in Turkey. A 2024 study said the country was almost ready for a tobacco endgame.
Smoking was first banned in 1997 in public buildings with more than four workers, as well as airplanes and public buses.
On 3 January 2008, Turkey passed a smoking ban for all indoor spaces including bars, cafés and restaurants. It also bans smoking in sports stadia, and the gardens of mosques and hospitals. The smoking ban came into force on 19 May 2008; however, bars, restaurants and cafes were exempted until mid-July 2009. On 19 July 2009, Turkey extended the indoor public smoking ban to include bars, restaurants, village coffeehouses and hookah bars.
The ban also forbids smoking advertising and the depiction of people smoking on television. Many foreign programmes or films that have scenes with characters smoking will usually have the cigarettes blurred out. In December 2018 the law was changed to require plain packaging of all tobacco products. Health warnings messages and images must cover both sides of packages and at least 85% of the packaging.
Progress is still being made in educating the public about the law. Actual enforcement of the ban is still being implemented. The president of the Istanbul branch of the Environmental Engineers' Chamber (ÇMO), Eylem Tuncaelli, said that the smoking ban is a way for political leaders to avoid dealing with the country's real air pollution problems.
Prevalence of tobacco use is above average. Over a quarter of Turks smoke - a higher proportion than EU countries except Greece and Bulgaria. Surprisingly, there is evidence to suggest that the rate of smoking among pregnant women in Turkey is between 8-12%. Whereas globally, smoking in pregnant women occurs in only about 1.7% of pregnancies.