Istanbul – Turkey’s Council of State on Wednesday overruled part of a package of controversial restrictions on the sale of alcohol that took effect earlier this year, the semi-official Anatolia Agency reported.
The court said a regulation prohibiting sales of alcohol at concerts and other events where people under age 24 are present was a violation of the freedom to purchase alcoholic beverages.
In its ruling – which considered a lawsuit filed by the Ankara Bar Association against the regulations – the court reaffirmed the right of persons over the age of 18 to purchase and consume alcohol.
The court also struck down an article prohibiting the sale at certain types of shops of alcoholic beverages in containers holding less than 20 centilitres, which was aimed at restricting access to individual-serving alcoholic drinks.
The court’s ruling comes less than three weeks before parliamentary elections scheduled for June 12 that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is expected to win.
Announced by the Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Authority in January, the package of alcohol regulations drew fierce protests from secularists who fear the Islamist-rooted AKP has a hidden religious agenda.
The regulations followed substantial increases in taxes on alcohol imposed by the government in recent years.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended the alcohol regulations, saying the new measures were designed to protect the country’s youth.
But inflammatory remarks made by Erdogan and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc that criticized excessive alcohol consumption, associating it with immorality, appeared to indicate the AKP’s lack of tolerance for secular lifestyles.
Although fewer than ten per cent of Turks are estimated to consume alcohol, Turkey has traditionally has had more liberal alcohol laws than other Muslim countries.
via Turkish high court partly overrules alcohol restrictions – Monsters and Critics.