Turkish anise brandy is much more than an alcoholic beverage. It is traditional for Turkish society and is part of the local dining culture. At noisy sofri, people sit for hours - eating, drinking and having fun.
However, in recent years, this tradition has been overshadowed by the alarming increase in deaths from alcohol poisoning. The major cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir are mostly affected, but also resort areas.
High excise taxes
Since the beginning of the year, at least 160 people have died after consuming fake alcohol. According to Turkish Interior Minister Ali Erlikaya, 648,000 liters of illegally produced brandy, vodka, whiskey, gin and other spirits had been confiscated by the end of February, and 560 suspects had been arrested.
The prices of alcoholic beverages in Turkey have risen significantly in recent years due to high excise taxes. A bottle of brandy now costs around 35 euros. Given that the minimum wage is around 572 euros per month, such prices are unaffordable for many people in Turkey.
Warnings from Germany
The Federal Foreign Office in Berlin and experts are warning of the danger. Holidaymakers in Turkey are advised to exercise extreme caution when consuming alcohol, to carefully inspect the drinks for their original packaging and to check for the presence of an excise stamp.
The Turkish NGO “Alcohol Policy Monitoring Platform“ also recently published its own warning on its X profile: “Avoid restaurants that offer unlimited alcohol consumption, preferably order a sealed bottle and open it yourself to make sure the original stamp is intact.“
The main cause of alcohol poisoning is illegally produced alcohol, in which ethanol has been replaced with cheap methanol. Kagin Tan Eroglu from the aforementioned NGO emphasizes that methanol is highly toxic and can lead to visual disturbances, vomiting, drowsiness and organ failure, and in the worst case, death.
Criticisms of politics in Turkey
Eroglu criticizes Turkey's tax policy, which has led to a significant increase in the prices of alcoholic beverages. For example, since 2013, VAT has been automatically increased every six months, leading to a disproportionate increase in prices. Added to this is galloping inflation. Taxes now make up almost two-thirds of the final price. All this forces many people to look for cheaper alternatives on the black market.
Tax expert Ozan Bingol recently presented his calculations on this issue. "If only 15 years ago the excise tax was still around 51.5 Turkish liras per liter of alcohol, now it is almost 1,366 liras. That is an increase of an incredible 2,553 percent," he wrote in X in early February.
A resident of the Turkish city of Izmir tells Deutsche Welle that going to a bar has now become a luxury. He remembers that ten years ago a bottle of brandy cost around 18 euros. According to him, the country's Islamic-conservative government is using the tax system to force the liberal population to abstain from alcohol. "The government divides society and demonizes those citizens who do not share its views," he says.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likes to emphasize that he is a devout Muslim and does not drink alcohol. For him, Turkey's national drink is ayran.
Calls to ease restrictive policies
Following the recent deaths caused by counterfeit alcohol, Turkish food industry chambers have made urgent appeals to the government. They emphasize that extremely high taxes have not led to a decrease in alcohol consumption, but instead have become a danger to public health. In this regard, they call on the authorities to strengthen controls to limit illegal production. They also insist on reducing the drastic tax rates, which many times exceed production costs, in order to protect citizens from the dangers of the black market.
Kagin Tan Eroglu also points out that high taxes have not led to lower consumption, but have instead increased deaths. He accuses the government of pursuing its current policy for ideological reasons and considers people who drink alcohol to be “bad citizens”. Eroglu sees this as a culture war, instigated by the government itself.
What is the actual consumption?
Since 2014, all forms of alcohol advertising have been banned in Turkey. Alcohol producers are also not allowed to be sponsors, which has led to the cancellation of many famous festivals. If there are scenes of alcohol consumption in films and TV series, they must be blurred (pixelated). According to official data, the annual per capita alcohol consumption in Turkey is about two liters. However, no one knows how much fake alcohol is consumed.
Author: Elmaz Topcu