Turkey cracks down on bootleg alcohol ahead of New Year celebrations
Following news of bootleg-related deaths, the Interior Ministry launched Operation Alcohol across the country, while critics say the government uses these high-profile operations to demonize alcohol consumption.
As most Turks prepare for a quiet New Year’s Eve amid economic woes and a surge in COVID-19 cases, a nationwide crackdown on bootleg alcohol has revealed thousands of counterfeit bottles that were likely to literally poison the new year.
A statement from the Interior Ministry on Dec. 28 revealed the participation of more than 20,000 police and gendarmerie officers in Operation Alcohol in the country’s 81 provinces, seizing 20,000 liters of counterfeit liquor — mostly vodka, whiskey and raki, Turkey’s aniseed national drink. Called by the pro-government press one of the biggest operations against bootleg alcohol ever, the police said they also seized thousands of empty bottles that would have been refilled with the counterfeit alcohol, fake alcohol labels, along with some guns and drugs. The Istanbul police continued Wednesday with an operation at a warehouse in Tarabya, one of Istanbul's chic districts.
![Yellow capped new bottles of Turkish liquor of "Yeni Raki" remain packed at a alcohol sales spot in Istanbul March 9, 2005. A Turkish alcohol company on Tuesday ordered the recall of millions of bottles of Turkish liquor as the death toll from a bootleg version of the drink rose to at least 22.[ Galip Yorgancioglu, chief executive of Mey Drinks, said the firm was recalling all 0.7-litre bottles of Tekel brand raki, a popular anise-flavoured drink. Other sizes and brands would remain on shelves. ] - PBEAHUOC](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/11-1/RTXNAY7.jpg/RTXNAY7.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=UQholvmN)
