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. The ban means a TL 69 fine for those who smoke in a forbidden zone and a hefty fine of up to TL 5,600 for operators who allow it to happen. In the first four months after the partial ban was instated, fines for infractions of the smoking ban brought over TL 20 million to the government.
Turkish officials say cigarettes represent a serious health concern for the country of 71 million, where some 60 percent of men, 20 percent of women and 11.7 percent of children smoke.
Psychologists say the ban may also hold power in getting people to quit smoking, by creating a feeling of guilt in smokers. Dr. Nurdan Eryılmaz says: “In order to smoke, people will have to get up and go outside when in a restaurant. There are negative effects smoking bears on people's bodies and psychologies. Now, with isolation from society added to this and the effort to find a place where smoking is allowed, smoking will decrease.” Health Ministry officials have stressed that outside of saving smokers from their own bad habit, the smoking ban protects nonsmokers -- especially children -- from the devastating health effects of secondhand smoke.
While some complain that the ban will decrease business, others say that the increased family-friendly atmosphere brought about by the ban may ultimately mean more customers. Tahsin İnci, the operator of İstanbul Kebap in the Bakırköy district, says he has enforced a no-smoking regulation in his restaurant for the past year and that there has been no decrease in customers compared to his 25 years in the business. On the contrary, he says, there have been some positive results. “In particular, families with small children are happy with this implementation. … The cigarette ban carries great importance for future generations,” he says.
First phase of ban exceeded expectations
The smoking ban was passed into law in January 2008, going into effect in May of that year in areas outside of workplaces whose business was affected by the law, which were given an 18-month transition period before they too entered the law's jurisdiction. Some said Parliament had gone too far, infringing on people's rights and intruding into the realm of private life. While some argued that the ban was a sneaky attempt by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to begin reintroducing Islamic restrictions into Turkish legislation, opposition parties also championed the cause in the name of improved public health in Turkey, where over 120,000 people die annually from smoking-related illnesses such as cancer.
Others still said the ban could never be implemented in Turkey and that stubborn consumers would prevail over authorities, unlikely to enforce the new rules strictly. Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan announced last December that seven deputies would have fines of TL 62 each deducted from their salaries for disregarding the ban in Parliament (the fines were never imposed as the accusations could not be proven). And it is not uncommon to see one or two people light up on a ferry crossing the Bosporus. In offices, the ban's success depends largely upon management. A delegation from the World Health Organization (WHO) traveling to Turkey in March to determine the success of the ban's implementation were surprised during a trip to the Finance Ministry when a bureaucrat lit up in front of them. They inquired as to whether the ban was indeed applicable within the Finance Ministry, whereupon the bureaucrat reportedly put out his cigarette. Despite problems, the ban has decidedly made a difference -- though not eliminating smoking entirely -- in indoor public areas. Though it took some time, total cigarette consumption per month has dropped since the partial ban was implemented, and authorities are hoping for similar success now that the law is in full force.
Despite all its critics, the ban is favored by the majority of Turks, both from amongst the nearly 22 million smokers in Turkey as well as the roughly 50 million nonsmokers, 10 million of whom suffer from lung and cardiovascular disease.
New law means adaptation, not extinction for nargile cafes
While the harms of cigarette smoking are no secret, in the weeks leading up to full implementation of the tobacco ban, the question on many minds was whether or not the numerous nargile (water pipe) cafés would fall within its scope. Despite the commonly voiced fallacy that nargile smoking is less dangerous than smoking cigarettes due to the water in the pipe somehow “cleaning” the smoke before it is inhaled, the health minister confirmed recently that as nargile smoking also involves tobacco, the ban will include nargile smoking indoors.
“I think at first they'll be strict about the ban, but then they'll ease up. Come on, if the government was really serious about banning smoking, they would cut it off at the import and production levels, levying hefty taxes. This is just part of the plan to look good to the European Union,” one Sultanahmet-area nargile café owner told Sunday's Zaman.
The operator of the Derviş Cafe 2 nargile café in the Çemberlitaş district says that he, like many nargile café owners, was considering construction plans to modify his building to allow for at least 50 percent of the ground area to be outdoors, therefore allowing them to receive permission to serve tobacco products. Other area nargile operators told Sunday's Zaman they would build terrace additions to their buildings to avoid the ban.
Mehmet Arıcı, a manager at one of the nargile cafés in a strip along the coast in the Tophane district, says that the nargile industry has no reason to worry about the new ban, and that operators will just adjust to the changing legal conditions. “Now, there will be more attention paid to improving the environments in which people are smoking. It will be easier for people, for example, to come in groups to such cafés, even if one or two people are bothered by smoke, because the area will be outside. In some instances, terraces will provide for better views of the city. I think that the culture will change, yes, but nargile smoking will not decrease. It's not like cigarettes; it's a social experience. People have deep conversations over a nargile pipe. You cannot change this tradition with a law,” he says.
Another emerging option for those nargile operators who do not have the funds for a major construction project is the so-called herbal nargile, currently marketed in Turkey by İskhak Acı under the brand name Binar. Made of sugar cane instead of tobacco and containing no nicotine, Acı's product is imported from India and certified by the Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Agency (TAPDK) as falling outside the scope of the tobacco ban. Acı has been going from café to café in recent weeks pitching his product, which has been met with a bit of apprehension from café operators.
However, as nargile operator Arıcı noted, the price is prohibitive -- twice that of tobacco per gram. “We'll try it out with our customers and see how they like it, but this product will drive up prices, and even as it reduces health risks, it can take away some of the pleasant nargile side effects that some people smoke for, like the feeling of lightheadedness,” he says.
Still other nargile cafés are planning to close altogether. “My café was on an intermediate floor, and there's no space to build a terrace. It's also too much of a gamble to spend so much on trying to get customers to smoke sugar cane, especially since many cafés will now have attractive terraces with real tobacco. I'm closing down my café for a month and converting it to a kebab house. The government can't outlaw kebab!” Beyoğlu businessman Can Şahan says.
National
