As a country where 25 million of the country’s population of 70 million smoke, the reform has not surprisingly spoiled the comfort of some...

- 19 / 05 / 2008 14:38

A ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces and buildings, including government facilities, sporting venues, shopping malls and public transport, went into effect on Monday as part of efforts to bring Turkish law in line with European practices.

As a country where 25 million of the country’s population of 70 million smoke, the reform has not surprisingly spoiled the comfort of some while it has pleased others who think that a smoke-free environment will not only protect non-smokers from the harmful effects of smoking but will also urge smokers to quit.

Zaman’s Mümtaz’er Türköne is among those who welcomed the smoking ban for a variety of reasons. He thinks the ban makes smokers feel more excluded from society and will at the end of the day help them give up smoking. “Being a smoker today is no different than being a slave in the old times. With this ban, smoking addicts are excluded from society and deprived of all the opportunities and luxuries of the civilized world. Civilization meant constructing buildings and sitting in them. Smokers will not be able to smoke in those buildings from now on,” Türköne says, stressing the kind of feeling the ban will create among smokers. According to him, this ban should even be supported by those who are against all bans because it actually does not eliminate the freedom to smoke but secures the freedom of non-smokers. “The venue where the freedom of non-smokers ends is the venue where the freedom of smokers begins. Since it is cigarettes that are harmful, the ban is very just and correct,” he remarks. Since the ban creates a feeling of alienation from society among smokers since they always have to separate themselves from others to be able to smoke, Türköne thinks it gives them a unique opportunity to quit smoking. “Smoking is like other habits. Life goes on with habits but it is possible to change one’s life by changing one’s habits,” Türköne says.

A liberal democrat, Sabah’s Emre Aköz says he is against a mentality of prohibition and supports dealing with problems not by banning them but by making arrangements. However, he says, there are some problems that should be treated as exceptions. The smoking ban is one of them. He cites the reasons why he supports this ban as follows: Lung cancer, which in most cases develops as a result of smoking, is very common in Turkey; smoking is such a habit that when one lights up a cigarette in front of you, you begin to feel like you want to smoke -- this chain has to be broken; if the cigarette package is within your reach, you smoke. There is no other way than imposing a ban to stop this habit. What differentiates smoking from the use of alcohol is that it harms others as well. In consideration of all these reasons, Aköz thinks it is indispensable to impose a ban on smoking in certain places.

Milliyet’s Hurşit Güneş also supports the smoking ban and does not agree with those who claim that the ban will deal a blow to the entertainment sector. To the contrary, he says, people who had preferred not to go to such places because of heavy cigarette smoke will begin to go. Discussing also whether this ban will truly be put into practice, he is very optimistic because non-smokers will warn smokers if they do not comply with the smoking ban. “Imposing the smoking ban was a really good step because everything that harms people and society should be banned,” argues Güneş.