Erdoğan Says Pleased National Agenda Is Set By His Speeches

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking during an event on smoking in İstanbul on Friday, has said that he is very pleased with the reactions to almost all of his speeches as this makes an agenda, arguing that if a prime minister cannot create an agenda, he should leave his post.



Attending a meeting held to release the results of "Turkey's Tobacco Control Success: 2012 Global Adult Tobacco Survey" on Friday, the prime minister responded to criticism leveled at the government for a recent bill regarding the sale of alcohol that was recently passed by Parliament.



Regarding the criticism, Erdoğan stated that there are some circles who take things mentioned in his speeches and turn them into a controversy, adding that he is very pleased with this reaction as this creates an agenda. He also stated that if a prime minister cannot create an agenda, he or she should leave their posts.



Erdoğan, defending a bill imposing restrictions on the sale of alcohol that was recently passed by Parliament, has stated that the government is not completely prohibiting alcohol, as has been claimed, but rather is setting some limits for the sale of alcoholic beverages. He said: "We [the government] introduced recently a bill regarding alcohol consumption. Some circles stand against this bill. They started to generate some speculation that has nothing to do with the regulation and tried to influence the public and attack the government with very inaccurate arguments. Do we prohibit the drinking of alcohol? No, we just set some limits for its sale. Accordingly, the sale of alcoholic beverages will be prohibited at a distance of 100 meters around schools. This is one of the measures in the bill. Another one is that the sale of alcohol will be prohibited at a distance of 100 meters from mosques and other places of worship. The other measure is that the sale of alcoholic beverages from shops will be banned between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Alcohol will not also be sold at shops located along roads or at gas stations. We just draw some limits. There is no ban introduced on consumption of alcohol."



Also commenting on the indoor smoking ban, which was introduced by the government in 2009 as part of the Ministry of Health's "100 percent smoke-free air in Turkey," Erdoğan stated that the smoke coming from cigarettes kills many more people than the number who die as the result of shootings. Stating that the government has been successful in fighting armed terrorism in recent years, Erdoğan said that the government wants to achieve the same success in the fight against cigarettes and alcohol, which are almost as dangerous as terrorism. Erdoğan also said the major reason behind the high number of traffic accidents in Turkey is alcohol consumption, adding: "The police generally find bottles of alcohol under the seats of drivers at most traffic accidents. The drivers drink alcohol, but claim the lives of people who don't. Fighting alcohol is equal to fighting against terrorism. We have to show a collective resistance against alcohol. Unfortunately, we live in a time in which the number of people killed by smoking outnumbers the people killed in terrorist attacks. There is only one difference between these two. One [terrorism] kills immediately, while the other [smoking] kills slowly."



According to the law, campaigns, promotions or events that aim to encourage the use or sale of these products will not be allowed. Companies that produce, import or market alcoholic beverages will not be permitted to sponsor events using the brand or logo of their products. These companies will also not be allowed to offer free alcoholic beverages as a promotion or giveaway. Violation of this section of the law will incur a fine of between TL 5,000 and TL 200,000. No images of alcoholic beverages will be allowed in TV series, movies or music clips, and any that do appear will be blurred. In addition, the sale of alcoholic beverages will be banned between 10: 00 p.m. and 6: 00 a.m. Those caught violating this section will incur a fine of between TL 20,000 and TL 100,000.



(Cihan/Today's Zaman)