New Alcohol Law Prompts Fears for Turkish Bar Trade

The Islamist credentials of Turkey's conservative-run government have come under renewed scrutiny over a new law on alcohol which critics claim could stop bars and restaurants from selling drinks by the glass.

The regulation, which came into force this week, bars the sale of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes outside their original packaging. Offenders could face maximum fines of more than £4,000.

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) has justified the measure as necessary to prevent unlicensed premises from illegally serving alcohol while enforcing the government's policy of banning smoking in public. Officials insist it is not designed to interfere with the bars and cafes that are integral to the vibrant nightlife of cities like Istanbul.

But critics claim it is consistent with an AKP "hidden agenda" of gradually eliminating drinking in public through a succession of escalating restrictions.

The new law also bans the presentation of alcoholic drinks as promotional prizes, a practice common in many tourist resorts.

Despite an overwhelmingly Muslim population, public drinking is common in Turkey's urban centers. Istanbul's fashionable Beyoglu district is littered with bars and cafes which do a roaring trade in serving beer and wine by the glass.

Kazim çaliskan, president of Turkey's tobacco and alcohol regulating body, TAPDK, insisted such trade would continue unimpeded. "This kind of sale is banned in shops and markets that do not have a license to sell alcohol or cocktails out of their packages," he told the Anatolia news agency. "Restaurants that already have such a license can continue selling alcohol in glasses. The ban is for those little shops in neighborhoods that put some chairs and tables outside their shops and sell alcohol."

The controversy comes as the AKP is contesting an attempt by the constitutional court - Turkey's highest court - to close it down for allegedly trying to undermine the country's secular system. The court is also seeking to ban 71 senior party figures, including the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and president, Abdullah Gül, from party politics for five years.

The government's opponents say its Islamist allies in local government have made it harder to drink in public in recent years. Producers also blame the government for raising taxes on alcohol, including raki, an aniseed-flavored beverage widely considered Turkey's national drink. Last week the Danish brewer Carlsberg disclosed plans to sell its Turkish operation, citing losses which it blamed partly on a 35% private consumption tax.