Traditions Going up in Smoke?

The expression "to smoke like a Turk" seems destined for the rubbish bin of history after Turkey recently introduced some of the toughest anti-smoking legislation in Europe. Dorian Jones reports

A no-smoking sign in a shopping centre in Ankara (photo: AP)
Turkey's government is setting up a 4,500-strong team to help enforce the no-smoking ban in bars, restaurants and cafés in a country of heavy smokers

​​Smoking has been banned from all closed public areas, bars, cafes and restaurants, and even extends to patrons sitting outside cafes. Anyone caught puffing away in a non-smoking area faces an on-the-spot 45-euro fine, while cafe owners face penalties of up to 2,500 euros.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an avid anti-smoker, has instructed the country's governors to rigorously enforce the ban. He has even called for officials who fail to do so to be punished. The new law is being seen as the final nail in the coffin for one of the country's most ancient traditions.

Turkey has one of the highest rates of smoking in the world, and the legislation is expected to cause problems for cafes, bars and restaurants in cities like Istanbul, where the hospitality industry is bracing itself for a blow to profits.

Cafe owner Suleymain Aktas says that his business was already suffering due to the economic crisis, and that the smoking ban would add salt to the wound. "Sure, this ban will affect us both work-wise and in our lifestyle. We won't be able to live the way we did before. As for our cafe, we will have to take some economic measures like sacking workers," he said.

The end of an era

Turkish cafes are well known for the clouds of flavoured smoke wafting through the air from water pipes, or nargile in Turkish. It is a tradition that goes back centuries, but could now become a thing of the past.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (photo: AP)
Prime Minister Erdogan is a staunch anti-smoking advocate

​​Despite criticism of the new legislation by industry groups and smokers, there are many Turks who see this as a chance to turn a new, healthier corner. According to opinion polls, an overwhelming majority of Turks are in favour of tougher anti-smoking laws. "I think it is good for me because I don't smoke. When I sit here and drink I don't like the smoke. So it is going to be a good thing," said Volcan, a regular at the Keyif cafe in Istanbul.

But another cafe patron, Oguz, said as he savoured what he admits could be one of his last water pipes at Keyif that he was angered by the smoking ban. "I like smoking the nargile. I like the feeling of friendship that goes with it," he said. "Perhaps nargile is more harmful but it has an ambience and you smoke while chatting. I don't find it logical that they ban smoking in nargile cafes, because people come here by choice."

Widespread support

Passers-by in nearby Taksim square, in the heart of Istanbul, expressed support for the ban and felt little sympathy for water pipe smokers.

"Nargile? It might be part of the tradition, but it has become hyped in the last five or six years; as though there was no nargile culture before it was created," said one local. "It has encouraged many, many people to smoke even more. So I am perfectly happy that nargile cafes will close." Another passer-by said: "I think it is good. In many places people smoke too many cigarettes. I have waited a long time for this law."

Men sharing a water pipe and drinking tea (photo: dpa)
The days of smoke-filled Turkish cafes are numbered

​​For centuries, Turkey, which is also a major tobacco producer, has prided itself on its smoking traditions. But here, traditions can change with remarkable speed. Earlier restrictions on smoking on buses and in shopping centres met with little resistance, and even though there have been a few small protests against the new restrictions, mainly by cafe owners, the government remains determined to enforce them. It seems that the days of smoke-filled Turkish cafes are numbered.

Dorian Jones

© Deutsche Welle 2009

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