Between Erdoğan’s rise to power in 2003 and January this year, the price of beer has increased by 618 percent, according to data from the Turkish Statistics Institute TUIK.
The price of rakı, an aniseed-flavored spirit popular in Turkey, increased by 725 percent. (To compare, the price of fruit juice rose by 121 percent in the same period.)
Turkey is not a nation of boozers: More than 80 percent of citizens say they do not touch alcohol. But for those who do drink, the frequent tax hikes — the most recent came last month — have turned alcohol into a luxury product. [...]
On top of taxes, the AKP has introduced restrictions on alcohol sales. Since 2013, shops are banned from selling booze after 10 p.m. and no alcohol may be sold within 100 meters of a mosque. [...]
The Turkish government, however, is about to put a stop to this trend. New regulations coming into effect at the end of March stipulate that producers must add denatonium benzoate — the most bitter chemical substance in existance — to ethyl alcohol sold in Turkey.
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