Alcohol Apartheid: The New Turkish Laws That Segregate Drinkers

[nichola]

I couldn't see anything specifically about new Turkish laws in the article but makes for interesting reading about the rising tensions on the issue of alcohol availability and consumption in Turkey and people's attitudes to it.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/alcohol-apartheid-the-new-turkish-laws-that-segregate-drinkers/261290/

[stoop]

Quite worrying really. I know some think Turkey is heading East rahter than West and this just adds to that belief.

[janmack]

Slightly off topic but having been to the beach volleyball today I did wonder how the female teams, dressed in skimpy briefs and tops, fit into a country which appears to be leaning towards the East.  Will they be banned sometime in the future from playing unless they are fully covered?  I think tolerance towards Western influences are going to lessen as time goes on.

[stoop]

I wonder what Ataturk would think?

[Scunner]

I love being critical but I didn't read it like that - a rather boisterous and rowdy event which happens to be in an ultra-religious part of Istanbul? Surely it is acceptable to not want wholesale vomiting from alcohol sodden people! One of the replies to the article points out that the title talks of "new laws" but in fact, there are no new laws at all. As a story, I would call it total rubbish  

[stoop]

Can't agree Scunner -

"Even in areas long associated with foreigners and Western ways, pressure is mounting against those who like to consume alcohol. On the night of August 14, for instance, Beyoglu authorities removed bar and restaurant signs, claiming that such signage was incongruent with the historical appearance of the area. "In Beyoglu, they [authorities] don't say [anything] directly, but the right to drink alcohol in public places is diminishing, and that is an entertainment area," said Gokhan Tan, a media studies teacher at Istanbul Bilgi University."

[farmer]

Stoop.
My guess is that Ataturk would have said nothing. He would have merely gone elsewhere, drunk his usual copious amounts of Raki, exacerbated his cirrhosis, and then quietly passed away.

[tinkerman]

I wonder what Ataturk would think?

Did he like volleyball?

[stoop]

Not sure what that's supposed to add to the discussion Tinx?

[tinkerman]

If you read the post before yours Stoop it might make more sense