Turkey to work on regulations against hookahs

Turkey is working on new regulations against hookahs, the country's president has said, putting the long-disputed hookahs and the hookah-cafes on the main agenda of the country.

"Hookahs are more harmful than cigarettes. We are making some preparations to save our people from this harm," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a meeting with youth on May 31, World No Tobacco Day.

According to the president, "some people want to overcome the administration's fight against tobacco with hookahs, e-cigarettes or cigars."

"We are all aware of it," he said. "E-cigarettes are no different. Brutally harming [people]. We will not allow this to happen."

The president's words turned all eyes on hookah smoking and the hookah-cafes across the country.

It is strictly forbidden to smoke indoors in public places across the country since July 2009, and only the hookah cafes with open spaces could get licenses.

The number of hookah cafes in Istanbul was some 482 before all were closed with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a latest report about Istanbul hookah cafes in 2019, before the pandemic, only 57 percent of them had open spaces. "No smoking" signs existed in only half of them, and some 80 percent of the venues violated the smoking restrictions.

"We love our people. No one can deny our fight against tobacco use," said the president at the youth meeting and referred to the U.S. billionaire Elon Musk in the discussion.

"In our next meeting with Elon Musk, I will say, 'Spend some money against cigarette consumption, too,'" Erdoğan added.

The 50-year old Musk is the world's richest person with a net worth of $218 billion, according to the Forbes list 2022.