Turkey to introduce new anti-tobacco measures

Turkey's Health Ministry is mulling a new anti-tobacco campaign in its efforts to curb the rising number of smokers across the country, prompting doubts about their efficacy from sellers and smokers alike.

"In 2017, cigarettes would have to come in plain packages in which the logos will be indistinguishable," Health Minister Recep Akdag said on Monday at a parliamentary session.

As part of the measures, the cigarette packages will no longer be visible in shops and the shopkeepers will be required to keep them in closed cases, the minister noted.

He said that "a serious program" is needed to tackle the issue, as the rate of smokers aged over 15 has increased from 23 percent to 27 percent in the last four years.

Tobacco sellers in Istanbul's bustling Istiklal Avenue argued that the new campaign would certainly impact the sales but would be unable to prevent people from smoking.

"First of all, it is for sure that we would experience a significant drop in our tobacco products' sales," said Ekrem Unlu, the owner of Venus buffet, who expected his sales to drop as much as 20 percent.

Leyla Celikten, the owner of another small shop at the corner of the street, was considering dropping the tobacco business altogether, as she predicted up to 30 percent drop in her sales.

"Why would I lose time and energy in selling cigarettes as if it is something illegal?" she said, noting she could not imagine how she will be able to pick the right box in closed cases as she cannot distinguish different products.

It will not be easy either for customers to decide easily on what to buy in the absence of distinguishable brands, argued Unlu and Celikten.

"I'm sure that the smokers will tend to prefer to buy their cigarettes from smugglers instead, who are present in every corner," Unlu said, speaking of the authorities' inadequacy in curbing the sales of smuggled tobacco products.

Some smokers also voiced their doubts about the efficiency of the measures to be introduced in combating smoking.

Ebru Alkan, a female smoker in her 30s, said the new campaign has a potential to drive the young people toward smoking no-name products rather than quitting.

Another young woman noted that the youth tend to be against all kind of bans. "Instead, the bans would provoke them into increased smoking," she remarked.

Turkish officials have been considering replacing the pictorial warnings on the boxes with more disturbing, dreadful images of people who have developed smoking-related sicknesses.

"Only these kinds of pictures could prevent me from buying cigarettes because I'm scared of death so much," said 24-year-old smoker Gizem Gulmek. "However no ban could ever force me to quit smoking."

Turkey banned smoking in all indoor spaces, including restaurants, bars and cafes, in 2008. A year later the ban was extended to sites such as stadiums, mosque courtyards and hospitals.

Now a total ban is in place for tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship nationwide, with taxes as high as 80 percent levied on cigarettes sold in the country.

With these preventive measures, Turkey managed to reduce the smoking rate by some 13 percent from 2008 to 2012. Endit