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'Islamist agenda' claim as Turkey bans alcohol ads and night sales

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

May 25, 2013 | 4 min read

A bill passed this week by the Turkish Parliament will halt all advertising and promotion of alcohol-related products and ban retail alcohol sales between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Erdogan: Make mine a yoghourt

The move has been criticised by secular Turks who accuse the government of having an Islamist agenda, said the Wall Street Journal.

A devout Muslim known for his distaste for liquor and smoking, Prime Ministers Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared last month at the World Alcohol Congress that ayran, a salty yoghourt drink, was Turkey's national drink.

That caused consternation, said the WSJ, among those who have long held that the national drink is raki, an aniseed-flavored liquor favored by modern Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

The Government would seem to have been stonewalling drinks companies worried about the new law. Clearly a ban on all drinks ads could have a great impact on sales.

A spokeswoman for London-based Diageo whose brands include Johnnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka, told the WSJ, "We've been trying to contact the government to discuss the proposed changes to the regulatory environment governing the promotion and sales of alcohol in Turkey for a number of months now—pretty much one year."

Diageo became one of Turkey's biggest distillers with a $2.1 billion acquisition in 2011.

The new bill also wants to cut from television shows, movies and music videos scenes that "encourage consumption of alcohol" .

President Abdullah Gul was expected to sign the bill,bringing the curbs in soon. Shares in local brewers have fallen.

Prime Minister Erdogan claimed the move was to bring Turkey into line with other advanced economies such as the U.S., which he claimed had similar curbs on alcohol sales to prevent abuse.

"What is a state to do but protect its people, its youth from bad habits?" Erdogan said on TV from Ankara. "We don't want a generation that's drunk day and night."

Critics say the new laws builds on a series of restrictions introduced by his Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party, which swept to power in 2002, replacing a secular military government.

Osman Coskunoglu, a former lawmaker from the main opposition tweeted ,"Step by step toward fundamentalist islamization by the ruling party: Turkey's new booze law."

The law is not an outright ban on alcohol. You can still have a drink at a bar.

But some say the government's curb on alcohol follows a pattern—including failed plans to introduce more conservative uniforms and to ban red lipstick on Turkish Airlines .

Several companies told The Wall Street Journal that the government had declined to meet with businessmen and groups representing distillers, brewers and winemakers as it drafted the legislation.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on TV that the government respects everybody's lifestyle and denied suggestions that it is looking to ban alcohol outright.

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