Fake alcohol-related deaths on rise in Turkey: Bootleg liquor claims 81 lives

The number of fake alcohol-related deaths has increased in Turkey due to high prices and taxes leading to the consumption of bootleg liquor under the rule of the AKP government.
Tuesday, 27 October 2020 12:43

In Turkey's Eastern Thrace province of Tekirdağ, a man was hospitalized over suspicions of methyl alcohol poisoning, he later died. The number of bootleg alcohol-related deaths has claimed a total of 81 lives in the country.

High taxes are leading many citizens to produce alternative alcoholic beverages. The government forces people to consume unsafe bootleg liquors by blocking all healthy roads.

Restricting access to alcoholic beverages and redundant high prices paid for the drinks have encouraged many consumers to produce alcoholic beverages in their own homes. The tax on alcoholic beverages accounts for more than 70 percent of the price of the beverage on sale.

While the price of a bottle of rakı (Turkish strong spirit flavored with anise) exceeds the daily income of a minimum wage person, people are turning to alternative alcoholic beverage production models.

After all these prohibitions, the citizens chose to make drinks from ethyl alcohol produced for food. In this way, citizens had the opportunity to "produce" safe and cheap alcoholic beverages without the risk of death. But the ruling party AKP, which wants to prevent the production of beverages from ethyl alcohol, has recently enacted a law in October.

With the new legislation, the sale of ethyl alcohol used to produce alcoholic beverages was prohibited. With the announcement of the restriction, the production and consumption of bootleg drinks continue to increase.