How free will alcohol be in the 'New Turkey?'

In the past few weeks, Turkey has had two controversies relating to alcoholic beverages. First, the Institute for Regulating the Tobacco and Alcohol Market, an official body, released a ruling which banned traditional "New Year's baskets" from including any alcoholic beverages. These baskets are either sold in markets, or distributed by companies as gifts, as a means to celebrate New Year's. And they traditionally include a bottle of wine, whiskey or some other alcoholic drink, for many people who celebrate New Year's also like to drink. But now these packages will include only soda, lemonade or juice, becoming "halal New Year's baskets," as the media jokingly wrote.

The second controversy was in Adana, the southern city which hosts a traditional "World Rak? Festival" every December (rak? is Turkey's traditional alcoholic beverage). This year, however, the Ankara-appointed governor of the city, Mustafa Büyük, called the organizers and "urged" them not to have the festival. The mayor of the city, who is not appointed by the center but elected by the people, opposed the governor on this issue and said, "It is the people's private lives, to which we cannot interfere." The mayor, Hüseyin Sözlü, is from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is not known for liberalism, but on this issue he took a more liberal line than the governor.

Yet the governor stood firm in his "urge." Finally, the organizers of the festival found the solution in changing the name of the event. From now on, it will be called not the "World Rak? Festival" but the "Adana Kebab and Turnip Festival."

None of this means that alcohol is banned in Turkey and the country has become "dry." One can easily buy alcohol in supermarkets, and there are plenty of alcohol-serving...