Turkey Bans Cigarettes in Bars!

Could North Carolina be next?
My father's country has been a place where smoking tobacco has been a rite of passage for young people generation after generation.
But, finally, the Turkish Parliament gave into the shifting prevailing sentiment and public health concerns.
However, "The Turkish Daily News" is speculating that the transition could be a very difficult one as previous efforts to reduce smoking have been met with stiff social resistance.
The news story out of the Turkish capital of Ankara is a lighter one in tone than the dreadful terrorist bombing in the eastern city of Diyarbakir, which occurred on Jan. 2. The blast which killed some half-dozen people and injured about 70 others  is allegedly the responsibility of savage PKK Kurdish terrorists who have needlessly put the country in peril for the last three decades while achieving nothing for the Kurdish minority in the process.
But, it will be interesting to see if Turks, Kurds and Armenians in Turkey can make this adjustment to not smoking in bars. One can imagine the nightlife in the Istanbul district of Beyoglu will have to undergo a radical, but perhaps well-needed face-lift.
Thus, the stereotypical image of Turkish man in a fez smoking a long cigarette while a belly dancer swoons by his side might well become an image of Turkey's past. In fact, Turkish people quit wearing the fez in 1923, the year Turkey became a republic. The hats are in fact only sold in souvenir shops for tourists now.

Personal Note: I might be taking a two or three day break from the blog for an extended weekend trip. I would say where, but I don't want to jinx myself though we will not go to The Ford's Theatre, which is closed for renovation. In the mean time, check out past entries which have links to my friends' blogs and other sites of interest. One entry from last month talks about the Istanbul UFO Museum, located in the very same Beyoglu district where one will have to puff on a Camel outside.


Useful Links:

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr

Tags: Smoking Bans, Turkey, fezes, Istanbul, UFOs