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  • Turkey: Anti-Smoking Advocates Pleased With Early Results Of Restaur

    TURKEY: ANTI-SMOKING ADVOCATES PLEASED WITH EARLY RESULTS OF RESTAURANT/BAR BAN

    Eurasia Insight
    http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/ar ticles/eav081109.shtml
    8/11/09

    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. Officials are well aware of public
    opinion numbers that show over 90 percent of Turks support the ban,
    but only 48 percent think it will prove durable.

    Vigorous enforcement early on, then, may be the key to the ban's
    ultimate success. Already, over 2,500 official warnings have been
    issued to smokers, and to proprietors who allowed smoking in their
    establishments.

    For owners and customers of bars; reactions have been mixed. In late
    July, a cafe owner in the Tarlabasi District of Istanbul complained
    about lost business. "I normally have three or four tables occupied
    during the early evening, I'm now lucky if I have even one table,"
    Tahir Silmaz said. "I won't be able to survive like this, particularly
    in the winter."

    Outside another cafe two customers discussed their situations in
    relation to smoking outdoors. Marat commented that he still smoked
    inside the cafe sometimes in contravention of the ban. "It's not
    always safe to smoke outside. . . . Look around you; there are women
    everywhere on this street. What happens if a man decides that I have
    been looking at his wife or girlfriend? It could start a blood feud."

    Sadly, there have been instances of violence related to the ban. On
    July 29, four customers were asked to put out their cigarettes in
    the town of Saruhanli, in southwestern Turkey. A fight broke out
    and bar owner Hidir Karayigit, 46, was shot and killed, and his
    business partner shot and injured. "I'm deeply saddened that the
    first smoking-ban murder occurred in our town," the mayor Saruhanli
    was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet Daily. "They either shouldn't
    have outlawed smoking or they should have outlawed alcohol along
    with smoking."

    Other owners have gone to extremes to circumvent the ban; including an
    owner in Manisa who simply removed the roof of his establishment. There
    is also an instance of a cafe in Istanbul where the proprietors
    installed two garden hoses that run outside, one containing a lit
    cigarette and the other hose for exhaling. In another case, a barber
    in Konya moved all of his shop's the chairs into the garden.

    In most cases, however, the ban is proving effective. Dr. Toker
    Ergâ"~â~U~]der of the World Health Organization is delighted so
    far. "This is a very difficult period for Turkey, it's in the top
    10 smoking nations in the world; so far implementation has been very
    good," Ergâ"~â~U~]der said.

    Editor's Note: Jonathan Lewis is a freelance reporter and photographer
    based in Istanbul.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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