KEBABBLE Turkey's beer-swillers get hammered
By Fazile Zahir
FETHIYE, Turkey - Turkey's Green Crescent (Yesil Ay) anti-alcohol, anti-tobacco
organization produced a report on August 12 that indicated they believe the
country is sinking into a barley-filled vat of iniquity.
According to their figures, the annual amount spent on alcohol has reached
US$3.3 billion and consumption of wine, raki and spirits is rising. The report
underlined the alarming nature of this trend by reminding the press and public
that "85% of murders in Turkey, 50% of rapes, 50% of violent incidents, 65% of
traffic accidents and 60% of all mental illnesses have alcohol as their root
cause". Alcohol, the teetotallers point out, causes memory loss, blindness,
stomach bleeding, heart problems and erectile dysfunction.
Green Crescent claims beer is the worst because it is the most
widely consumed beverage. Turks now consume 15.4 liters per person each year.
This figure, however, doesn't take into account how much is taken in by
visiting tourists. And though it may be the highest level of consumption in the
Muslim Middle East, when compared with 2004 figures such as 156.9 liters in
Czechoslovakia, 131.1 liters in Ireland or 115.8 liters in Germany - it still
looks very moderate.
Perhaps one of the greatest cultural differences between European and Turkish
patterns of alcohol consumption is the practice of abstinence among women. A
March 2009 study on moderate and heavy alcohol consumption among Turks by the
Turkish Institute of Cardiology noted, "Light drinkers consisted of 294 men and
56 women, moderate drinkers of 215 men and 12 women, heavy drinkers of 88 men
and five women and abstainers of 1,111 men and 1,662 women".
The study, which monitored 3,443 individuals for nine years, found that 2,773
never drank at all. Of the 19.5% who did drink, the majority of these - 10.2% -
were classed as light drinkers, 6.6% as moderate drinkers and only a tiny
proportion, 2.7%, or 98 people, were classed as heavy drinkers.
Alcohol consumption is socially acceptable across most of Turkey. Even in
conservative areas it is available in bars and shops where most patrons are
male.
The traditional Turkish drink is raki, a strong aniseed-based spirit that is
diluted with water and ice. In larger urban areas, young city dwellers go to
bars just to drink, but it is far more common across Turkey to drink when one
is eating as well. A hors d'oeuvre assortment is often referred to as a "raki
table". Foods strongly associated with raki are fish, melon and white cheese.
Turkey is thought to be the first place in the world where wine was made, and
even today it produces quality wines. The largest domestic producers are Doluca
and Kavaklidere and new popular wines have recently started to emerge from the
Cappadaocia and Aegean regions. (Although recently winemakers have complained
of a heavy tax burden and a government they feel is unsympathetic to the wine
industry due to its Islamist roots.)
The largest beer producer is Efes Pilsner, which dominates the market with an
80% market share. The ban on advertising alcohol means Efes is likely to remain
on top for many years to come. In 2008, according to the Tobacco and Alcohol
Market Regulatory Agency, volume sales of alcohol rose by 19.5% and beer
accounted for 9.5% of this rise.
With a young and increasingly urban population, it's likely that demand for
beer will continue its upward rise. Efes has developed new light and dark beer
brands over the past decade to capture an even larger market share and to help
shape more sophisticated drinking habits.
Unlike the wine industry, beer producers have not complained of unwanted
government interference and a recent excise rise was only to 9% - less than the
national rate of inflation.
The tradition of drinking alcohol in Turkey is nothing new. James Caulfield,
the first earl of Charlemont who toured Turkey in the 1700s, observed, "The
Turks are the soberest people on Earth yet some of them are apt to consider the
words of the prophet in the literal sense and imagine if they abstain from the
juice of the grape, they may drink any other spirituous liquor."
During the Ottoman era, alcohol fermentation and consumption were technically
banned for Muslims. Still, the following tale is likely to be more than just an
urban legend.
Sultan Murat the Fourth (1623-1640) was a heavy drinker, but imposed strict
penalties for those found guilty of tobacco and alcohol consumption in his
empire. He reputedly patrolled the streets of Istanbul in disguise and had
drunks executed on the spot. During a raid on a secret wine cellar, he demanded
to know why the vintner was flouting his prohibition. The winemaker repied,
"Sultan, we put the grape juice in the barrel, but only God knows whether it
becomes wine or vinegar."
In reality, winemaking continued with little interference from the Ottoman
authorities for 800 years. When the modern republic was established in 1923,
wine and spirit-making was nationalized under a state monopoly.
In recent year, the moderate Islamic ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
has made several attempts to curb alcohol consumption through legislation and
strict controls on establishments serving alcohol.
Since 2005, AKP mayors in Ankara have banned alcohol in government cafes and
restaurants, citing the need to protect family values. New sales licenses have
become harder to receive and extensions to existing permits are tied up in
interminable bureaucratic delays.
In 2008, new legislation was passed that banned the sale of alcoholic drinks
and cigarettes if the packaging was broken or divided (it was common in small
shops to sell individual cigarettes). Some said this it would be the end of
selling wine by the glass in restaurants and bars, which accounts for around
35% of all wine consumed and that it would be impossible to make cocktails.
As of today, the law has not been applied in this way. As Baris Tansever,
chairman of the Tourism, Restaurants, Club Investors and Operators group, puts
it: "I don't think this will be a problem as long as you have a license to sell
open bottle alcohol."
Despite suspicions that the AKP has an agenda to Islamicize the country, the
facts seem to prove the opposite. According to Emre Akoz, a sociologist, the
trend of conservatism in Turkey loses strength as society becomes more modern
and developed. "As people go along with modernization and economic and
intellectual development, they become less conservative. The increase in
alcohol consumption stands as proof of this," Akoz told Asia Times Online.
Fazile Zahir is of Turkish descent, born and brought up in London. She
moved to live in Turkey in 2005 and has been writing full time since then.
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