Alcohol Advertisement Banned in Turkey

ANKARA/ISTANBUL - In entire Turkey it is illegal to advertise for alcoholic beverages since today, Wednesday 11.06.2014. In bars, restaurants, super markets, every where the advertisement material has to be removed.

Alcohol producers also can't function as sponsors anymore. Logo's are to remain out of sight. Violators can count on heavy fines. Repeated violation of this new law can result in fines that go up as high as 500.000,- Turkish Lira (almost 175.000 euro).

These new and stricter rules have been in place since September 2013 with a transition phase that ended today. Between 22:00 hours (10 pm) and 06:00 hours (6 am) shops are not allowed to sell alcohol. Restaurants and bars are excluded from this last sanction.