Health officials move to cut tobacco visibility with new public smoking rules

ANKARA

Türkiye is moving toward a new phase in its fight against tobacco use, with a draft regulation by the Health Ministry that would make cigarettes largely invisible in daily life by restricting their display in shops and banning smoking in parks and other child-focused public spaces.

Authorities are in the final stages of preparing the regulation, which aims to reduce tobacco consumption by limiting social exposure.

According to details reported by private broadcaster Habertürk, cigarettes and other tobacco products would no longer be kept behind cash registers, effectively removing them from sight at points of sale.

Outdoor public spaces are also a key focus of the draft.

Smoking would be banned or heavily restricted in parks, gardens and playgrounds, as part of an effort to prevent children from seeing adults smoke and to reduce the normalization of tobacco use in everyday settings.

These planned changes extend to enclosed spaces as well.

Health officials are preparing updates to existing legislation on indoor smoking, alongside measures targeting “new generation” tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes, aiming to counter the widespread perception that these products are less harmful.

Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu had earlier signaled the upcoming changes, saying that legislative work to expand indoor smoking bans was nearing completion.

While he did not share details at the time, Memişoğlu noted that the plan involves making smoking cessation clinics and field-based mobile teams more active across the country.

He said the draft would soon be brought to parliament.

Türkiye already applies some of the region’s toughest tobacco controls.

A 2008 law banned smoking in all enclosed spaces except private residences, making the country the third in Europe to adopt comprehensive smoke-free zones by 2009, with the ban extended to private vehicles in 2013.

Plain packaging for all tobacco products became mandatory in 2020, and tobacco advertising and promotion are prohibited.

Despite these measures, more than a quarter of the Turkish population continues to smoke.

Under current law, individuals who smoke in restricted areas face fines, while business owners who fail to enforce the rules are subject to higher penalties.