 of bootleg alcohol, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Tuesday.){kind=link}
Turkey has detained 121 people accused of making liquor illegally, with police seizing more than 33,000 liters (7,300 imperial gallons) of bootleg alcohol, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Tuesday.
High prices and alcohol taxes have sparked a surge in clandestine production in Turkey, with at least 152 people killed in January and February from drinking tainted beverages, according to a toll from the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Yerlikaya said the detentions took place “over the last two weeks” across Turkey’s 81 provinces, with the bulk of the sweeps taking place in İstanbul and the southern tourist hub of Antalya.
“Our teams of policemen have arrested 121 suspects” and “33,554 liters of bootleg alcohol … were seized,” he posted on X.
İstanbul ve Antalya merkezli 81 ilde "Sahte/Kaçak Alkol İmalatçılarına" yönelik Jandarmamız tarafından son 2 haftadır düzenlenen operasyonlarımızda;
➡️ 33 bin 554 litre sahte/kaçak alkol ile
➡️ 29 bin 63 litre etil alkol ele geçirildi.⛔️ Jandarma ekiplerimizin, yasa dışı… pic.twitter.com/erYu2TJKfp
— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) August 5, 2025
“The clandestine production of alcohol is not only a crime: It’s a deadly trap that threatens public health,” Yerlikaya added, urging people to “report any suspicious activity” to the authorities.
Bootleg alcohol is often tainted with methanol, a toxic substance that can cause blindness, liver damage and death.
Although Turkey is a nominally secular country, alcohol taxes have risen sharply under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a Muslim who strongly opposes drinking.
Critics say Erdoğan’s policies are indirectly fueling the production of bootleg alcohol by ramping up prices.
© Agence France-Presse