Reports: Turkey bans alcohol sales during weekend curfews

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Shops that are allowed to stay open during weekend curfews are banned from selling alcoholic drinks, according to multiple reports.

Haber Global TV reported last night (December 9) that the Ankara Security Directorate sent a written warning to shops that those who sell alcoholic beverages would be fined.

An association of off-license shops later confirmed the report to BBC Turkish, saying that some shops were fined on the weekend.

As part of the coronavirus measures, weeknight and weekend curfews are currently in place all across Turkey. Groceries and supermarkets are allowed to stay open between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

A Ministry of Interior circular about the measures issued on December 1 does not mention a ban on alcohol sales.

Özgür Aybaş, the spokesperson for the Off License Shops Platform of Turkey, told BBC Turkish that grocery chains continued to sell alcoholic drinks over the weekend, which "violated fair competition."

After shop owners' complaints to the Presidency Communications Center, alcohol sales were banned altogether, he said.

The decision was "ideological" and the government interfered with people's private lives on the pretext of the pandemic, he added.

Similar reactions were seen on social media last night, with many users posting tweets with the "AKP, hands off my private life" (#yaşamtarzımadokunmaAKP). (EKN/VK)