10.10.2026 14:20
Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu announced that presenting a Turkish Republic ID card will be made mandatory for cigarette sales. Memişoğlu said the regulation will be submitted to Parliament within a few weeks.
Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu made statements on the fight against tobacco and tobacco products.
Speaking on TRT Haber, Memişoğlu explained the new regulation regarding cigarette sales.
Minister Memişoğlu stated that they are determined in the fight against tobacco and tobacco products and said that Turkey had achieved important successes in the fight against smoking in the past, but that an increase in smoking rates had been observed in the recent period.
Also pointing out that smoking is the root disease causing nearly 60 percent of deaths in Turkey, Minister Memişoğlu expressed that they have been making a great effort in the last two years to help people quit smoking so that people become aware on this issue.
Minister Memişoğlu continued as follows:
“As the Ministry of Health, we provide all medications that help with quitting smoking free of charge, and when you look at it, we have over 1,700 smoking cessation outpatient clinics. We have mobile smoking cessation clinics. The line we call 171 provides all kinds of support related to smoking and quitting.”
IDENTIFICATION WILL BE REQUIRED WHEN BUYING CIGARETTES
Minister Memişoğlu gave information about the draft law prepared regarding cigarette sales.
Minister Memişoğlu, who reported that they will introduce an obligation to present identification in cigarette sales and increase inspections, said, “The most fundamental issue in the preparation of our main law is to remove cigarettes from being visible. We are going to impose restrictions in some areas.”
He announced that, in addition to restrictions in parks and gardens, it is planned to introduce an age verification application, especially to prevent cigarette sales to those under 18.
AGE WILL BE VERIFIED VIA ID
With the new regulation, it is aimed to verify the ages of people who buy cigarettes through their Turkish Republic identity information.
Memişoğlu explained the rationale for the practice as follows:
“Our main purpose is this; smoking by people under a certain age is already prohibited at the moment. More precisely, selling to them is also prohibited. This will ensure that the sale is made by presenting a Turkish Republic ID or by presenting oneself. We will verify their age, because selling cigarettes to those under 18 is already prohibited at the moment. They will also have shown it.”
AREAS IN CAFES AND RESTAURANTS WILL BE REORGANIZED
Law No. 5727 published on January 19, 2008 prohibited the consumption of tobacco products in all enclosed areas except homes, and with the law fully entering into force in July 2009, Turkey became the third European country to enter the smokeless airspace.
Minister Memişoğlu stated that there will be regulations regarding the smoking ban in enclosed areas.
Stating that in the current practice there are uncertainties in smoking and non-smoking sections, the Minister said that these areas will be regulated with clearer rules and said, “At the moment, non-smokers have been left in the back areas, which are more disadvantaged.”
Within the scope of the fight against tobacco, regarding the new regulations, Yeşilay Science Board Member and Professor Dr. Toker Ergüder, faculty member at the Department of Public Health, Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, University of Health Sciences, provided information about the draft law.
Ergüder had stated that it is planned to ban cigarette sales in Turkey starting from 2040, remove thin cigarettes, and ban cigarette sales for life to those born after 2015.
The regulation is expected to be submitted to Parliament in October.