Word: laws
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...French did it. The Italians did it. Now tobacco-loving Turkey is betting it can go smoke-free too. A sweeping new law takes effect on Sunday, banning smoking in bars, cafes, pubs and restaurants across the country, the world's fourth-largest tobacco producer, where 22 million people - including half the adult male population - puff away on a regular basis...
...Part of the reason Turkey adopted the new legislation was to comply with requirements set out by the European Union, which the country is seeking to join. But the law also dovetails with the Islamic-rooted government's deep distaste for tobacco and alcohol. None of Erdogan's ministers smoke, and previous governments had been trying to introduce similar laws for years, only to be stymied by strong pressure from tobacco lobbyists. Turks spend almost $25 billion a year on cigarettes. (Read: "New Turkish Law Curbs Military's Power...
...that end, the Health Ministry has trained a 5,000-person task force to patrol establishments and dole out fines to anyone caught lighting up. For now, smokers who defy the ban will face a paltry $45 fine, but that's due to go up in 2010. The law is harsher on establishments - they face an initial $500 fine, which increases exponentially with every repeat offense...
...Turkey's new non-smoking law makes it only the second developing country after Uruguay to institute a comprehensive ban. That is significant - according to the World Health Organization, developing nations will account for 80% of the world's tobacco-related deaths over the next decade, as smoking rates in developed countries fall and tobacco companies step up their presence in other markets to compensate. "People in the region are watching Turkey closely," says Ratte, who is due to take her anti-smoking campaign to Egypt next. "It could become a regional role model, like Ireland was for Europe...
...with powerful establishment clerics like Rafsanjani shying away from open confrontation with the Ahmadinejad government, the protest movement may need to look beyond clerical leadership. Rafsanjani himself didn't have any suggestions for how the opposition should continue its struggle, other than that it should obey the law. Mousavi advisers have talked about starting a new political party, but that would require government permission. Rank-and-file supports have been reduced to largely symbolic gestures like turning on hair dryers and irons during presidential speeches in order to trigger mass blackouts, or boycotting Siemens Nokia, which they accuse of having...