Is this true ? :-(

[Sleuth]

I was told last night that companies in Turkey are being told by the government  to stop producing Turkish Brandy / Gin and Vodka ... I  noticed during the tail end of last season they were a bit thin on the ground in the local supermarkets.. if this course of action is true this will surely be another nudge to the demise of many bars and restaurants in Turkey    If they are only allowed to sell imported spirits ( brandy, vodka, and Gin )  who is going to pay 16/17tl for a measure ??  I personally enjoyed the turkish brandy but would never pay the imported prices... yet another blow to turkish tourism and one up to Spain and the rest    very soon I  can see Turkey being like Saudi Arabia and other arab countries where alchohol will only be sold in hotels     please someone tell me all this is untrue or just a rumour

[usedbustickets]

My moneys on this being a rumour, in part cos your list does not include Raki, and I'd have thought that being stopped would have had the masses on the street- which would lend this to the rumour.  I suspect that the shortage in supermarkets at the end of last season that you experienced was the owners running down their stock at the end of the season.  Haven't seen any evidence on the supermarket shelves of an absence of these drinks in the last month or so in either the big supermarkets or the local markets.

[Sleuth]

Hope you are right     but time will tell 

[Jim Fraser]

Also heard this story a while ago, the reason given was it was produced by Tekel (the Government producer), and if you are the Ruling AK Party and against Alcohol it’s an easy decision to stop production. Whether its true or not - time will tell.

[jackstee]

Turkish Brandy has been in short supply for many months.

[puma]

a lot of Turkish depend on the tourist trade i for one think it is a rumour

[calvin 1949]

no slortage eer in Antalya ,Hic Hic!!!!!  

[Sandrats]

Raki is, so I was told, classed as a food not booze - it attracts less taxation than other alcoholic drinks, and as a 'food' would unlikely to come under the same 'rumour' bracket would temper the Govt decision, and equally the mass rioting should it not be available might also affect their decision making process!

[nichola]

Turkish Airlines (51% govt owned) have just stopped selling alcohol on 7 of their routes; Egypt and countries in the Middle East and a couple in Africa like Somalia.

[Jim Fraser]

Raki is, so I was told, classed as a food not booze - it attracts less taxation than other alcoholic drinks, and as a 'food' would unlikely to come under the same 'rumour' bracket would temper the Govt decision, and equally the mass rioting should it not be available might also affect their decision making process!

if Raki is taxed less why is it near the same price as some imported drinks.