In Turkey, one person dies every 6 minutes due to smoking-related diseases. In order to prevent all deaths and chronic diseases, laws raising awareness of citizens about smoking and protecting public health in our country have been adopted and entered into force earlier than many countries in the world.
The "Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)", the first international agreement in the fight against smoking, was adopted at the 56th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 21, 2003. It was adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on April 28, 2004 and entered into force after being published in the Official Gazette. Turkey is the 43rd country to sign the convention and today 181 countries are parties to this convention.
With the signing of the FCTC, the efforts for smoking control initiated in our country have gained momentum. The first "National Tobacco Control Program" prepared with the cooperation of nearly 130 experts from relevant Ministries, universities and non-governmental organizations was published with the Prime Ministry Circular on October 07, 2006. Subsequently, the "National Tobacco Control Program Action Plan 2008-2012" was prepared and introduced to the public by Mr. Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN on December 12, 2007. In 2007, "Provincial Tobacco Control Committees" were established in 81 provinces for the implementation of the National Tobacco Control Program. In December 2007, the Department for Combating Tobacco and Substance Addiction was established in the Ministry of Health in order to make the efforts more effective and sustainable.
With the momentum added to Turkey's efforts to combat smoking, the Law No. 5727 "Law on Amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Harms of Tobacco Products" was adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on January 03, 2008. The provisions of the said law regarding indoor areas open to the public entered into force on May 19, 2008, and the provisions regarding the prohibition of consumption of tobacco products in restaurants owned by private law persons and establishments providing entertainment services such as coffee houses, cafeterias and beer houses entered into force on July 19, 2009. With the entry into force of the law with all its provisions, smoking has been banned in all enclosed spaces except residential dwellings. This law aims to protect the whole society, especially children and young people, from passive exposure to traditional cigarette smoke.
As of July 19, 2009, Turkey has become the 6th country in the world and the 3rd country in Europe after Bermuda, New Zealand, Uruguay, the United Kingdom and Ireland, which, according to WHO data, has the most comprehensive law on smoking control.
With the regulation made by Law No. 6111 on February 25, 2011, the authority to impose fines on businesses was taken from the municipalities and given to the local local authorities, and with the legislative amendments made on July 12, 2012, the authority to impose administrative fines on businesses that violate the provisions of Law No. 4207 was given without written warning.
Turkey has been the first country to fulfill all of the criteria of the "Policy Package for Controlling the Tobacco Epidemic" (M-POWER) recommended by WHO to all member countries to guide tobacco control efforts in the fight against tobacco control since 2008. This success achieved by our country with the legal arrangements made on July 12, 2012 was announced to all countries by the Regional Director for Europe at the 62nd Regional Meeting of the WHO European Region held on September 10, 2012, and the WHO Regional Office for Europe held the 2012 Evaluation Meeting in our country on September 18-20, 2012 with the participation of 42 country representatives.
The "International Protocol for the Suppression of Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products" prepared within the scope of Article 15 of the FCTC was opened for signature by WHO on January 10, 2013, and Turkey was one of the 12 countries that signed the protocol on the first day. The "International Protocol for the Suppression of Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products" was adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on October 25, 2017 and entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette.
With Articles 26 and 27 of the "Law on Amendments to Certain Laws and Decree Law No. 375" numbered 6487, which entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated June 11, 2013 and numbered 28674, amendments were made to the Law No. 4207 on the Prevention and Control of Harms of Tobacco Products. With these amendments, the consumption of tobacco products in the driver's seats of private vehicles was banned.
In the "2013 Global Tobacco Epidemic Report" prepared by the World Health Organization and announced on July 10, 2013, it was officially declared that Turkey was the first country to fulfill all of the M-POWER criteria and that it was an example to the whole world in tobacco control efforts.
The "National Tobacco Control Program Action Plan" covering the 2015-2018 period was updated in line with the needs of our country in accordance with the spirit of the FCTC and entered into force after its publication in the Official Gazette.
The Ministry of Health issued the Circular on Tobacco Control Practices No. 2015/6 for the implementation of the activities to be carried out within the scope of the action plan in the 2015-2018 period. With the Circular, regulations have been made to prevent the use of tobacco and tobacco products in closed areas as well as in some open areas that are used intensively by the public.
In this context;
- Preventing the consumption of cigarettes at a minimum distance of 5 meters from the entrance doors of places such as airports, bus terminals, train stations, shopping malls, cinemas, theaters, health institutions and organizations, which are closed areas where people use intensively and where people enter and exit en masse,
- Public institutions and organizations to allow cigarette consumption only in designated areas of open spaces, New regulations have been introduced regarding the expansion of Smoke-Free Campus applications by ensuring that the ratio of these areas to the total open area is not more than 30% and that they are at least 10 meters away from the entrance gate,
- All open areas that are mainly used by children, such as public playgrounds, and the areas created by institutions for citizens to do sports, such as walking paths, exercise areas, etc., to prevent smoking.
With the Prime Ministry Circular No. 2015/1, it was decided to establish the "National Tobacco Control Coordination Committee" within the scope of the National Tobacco Control Program Action Plan. In this context, the Committee held its first meeting on 14.05.2015 under the coordination of the Ministry of Health with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of Customs and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of National Education, the Radio and Television Supreme Council and the Turkish Statistical Institute.
The "National Tobacco Control Program Action Plan Workshop and Provincial Evaluation Meeting" was held in Antalya between 18-20 November 2015 in order to evaluate the activities carried out under the National Tobacco Control Program Action Plan. Representatives of stakeholder institutions, professional and non-governmental organizations, academicians and provincial representatives of the Ministry of Health attended the meeting. During the meeting, in addition to the evaluation of the action plan, problems experienced in the field within the scope of tobacco control activities, solution proposals and evaluations on the development of anti-tobacco activities were made.
The Ministry of Health carries out activities with young people who voluntarily participate from non-governmental organizations for the purpose of "Protecting Children and Young People from the Harm of Tobacco Products", which is one of the main objectives of the anti-smoking activities carried out in Turkey. The Civil Society and Youth in the Fight against Tobacco Workshop, the first of which was held on April 09-10, 2016 and the second of which was held on May 30, 2016, included activities aimed at protecting young people from tobacco products and ensuring their active participation in the fight against smoking. The "Youth Action Plan for Combating Tobacco", which was created as a result of these activities carried out by the Ministry of Health together with young people, was introduced to the public by a representative elected by young people from among themselves during the World No Tobacco Day celebrations on 31 May 2016.
The Tobacco Control Strategy Document and Action Plan was updated to cover the 2018-2023 period in order to protect all individuals from the health, economic, environmental and social harms of tobacco products. The Tobacco Control Strategy Document and Action Plan, which was strengthened with the addition of new initiatives and activities for current needs to the activities that will continue from the 2015-2018 Tobacco Control Strategy Document and Action Plans, entered into force on May 30, 2018, signed by the President of the High Council for Combating Addiction.
With the Presidential Circular No. 2019/2 published in the Official Gazette No. 30686 dated February 14, 2019, the High Council for Combating Addiction was instructed to convene under the chairmanship of the Vice President. The High Council was reconstituted with the participation of the Ministers of Justice, Family, Labor and Social Services, Environment and Urbanization, Youth and Sports, Treasury and Finance, Interior, National Education, Health, Agriculture and Forestry, Trade, Transportation and Infrastructure and the Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Health Policy Board.
The Working Procedures and Principles of the Committees for Combating Addiction, which were approved at the UNHCR meeting held on July 03, 2019, were sent to 81 provincial governorships and relevant institutions on August 09, 2019.
In addition, taking into account the effects of the Covid 19 Pandemic in our country, extra measures have been taken in the fight against smoking. In this context;
- With the Circular of the Ministry of Interior dated March 2020 and numbered 5361, the activities of hookah serving establishments were temporarily banned in order to prevent the spread of Covid 19 outbreak. With the Circular of the Ministry of Interior dated June 27, 2021 and numbered 10530, businesses serving hookah were not allowed to start operating again within the scope of normalization efforts.
- With the Circular of the Ministry of Interior dated 11.11.2020 and numbered 18579, in order to ensure that the mask is worn correctly and continuously, as of 12.As of 11.11.2020, smoking is banned in all provinces in areas such as streets, avenues, squares and stops of public transportation vehicles where citizens are/may be concentrated.
Our country has also achieved significant success in "tax increase", which is one of the provisions of the CTCS and considered as one of the most effective practices in tobacco control. The Ministry of Finance gave full support to the efforts carried out in this context and the tax rate, which the World Health Organization wants to be at least 75% on tobacco products, is 86.60% as of 2022.