Turkey has enacted new restrictions prohibiting alcohol company and product names, logos, emblems and packaging images from being displayed inside or outside shops, bars and restaurants or used to sponsor events, publications and social media content.
These restrictions were included in an omnibus law published in the Official Gazette on Saturday after parliament approved it on June 11.
Under the law, producers, importers and distributors may not use company names, product brands, logos, emblems, or images from product packaging to sponsor or otherwise support any event or content published on any platform.
Bars, restaurants and retailers will also be prohibited from displaying alcohol company names, logos, or packaging imagery inside or outside their premises, including in windows and sales units.
Businesses licensed to sell alcohol for retail or on-premises consumption have until June 20, 2027, to comply with the display restrictions.
The law also bars companies from using the same brand across different categories of alcohol. A brand used for beer, wine or other products of alcoholic fermentation cannot also be used for a distilled spirit such as rakı, whisky, vodka or gin, while a spirits brand cannot be used for beer or wine. Products that violate the cross-category branding rule must be brought into compliance within three months and may not be put on the market after that deadline.
The legislation transfers authority to impose penalties for violations of Turkey’s ban on retail alcohol sales between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. from the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry to provincial and district governors.
The measure expands restrictions introduced in 2013, when the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan banned alcohol advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and prohibited nighttime retail sales. Critics have accused Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of using state policy to impose its religious values on Turkey’s secular population.