Turket Widens Smoking Ban to Most Enclosed Areas

Turkey widens smoking ban to most enclosed areas
Tuesday May 20th, 2008
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080519/ap_on_re_eu/turkey_smoking_ban;_ylt=Ao5.ZaHxPyTJq1A6I4bDMPF0bBAF

Summary: Turkey is a country that has one of the highest population of smokers. Two thirds of the smokers in the world live in Turkey, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, United States, Japan, Brazil, Bangladesh and Germany. Turkey is also one of the worlds main tobacco growers, and distributes tobacco to many major cigarette producers. A recent law has banned smoking in enclosed areas, was just approved in Turkey where most areas such as taxis, ferries and malls are off limits to smoking. Even outdoor smoking was banned in stadiums and playgrounds. Originally smoking was banned from buses, airplanes and large offices. This law affects most of the nation because 40% of Turks over 15 years old smoke regularly, and together smoke 17 million packs a day. Government officials say that 160,000 people die annually in Turkey. One unsettling fact is that people are still often seen smoking next to non-smoking signs in public places, also Huseyin Erdogan a taxi driver said, “ I don’t know how much of a deterrent these laws will be, I cannot quit smoking, I’ll only quit when I go to my grave. I have to smoke.”

Reaction:
A) The AP World History Theme this article relates to is Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems because of trade, and commerce. Turkey is a large tobacco producer in the world and is constantly shipping large amounts to other nations. Obviously tobacco is used in cigarettes which is a danger to all peoples health and by shipping so much out of the country it is a danger to us all. That is why hopefully this law will encourage people in Turkey to smoke less reducing the amount of tobacco created and shipped out to other countries to make cigarettes.

B) Since the first anti-smoking organization came about 12 years ago in Turkey, government officials have persistently been pushing for bans against smoking. Having one of the highest smoking rates in the world, public areas seem to always have clouds of cigarette smoke. This is where the expression “Smoke like a Turk,” came about, because of the high population of smokers. This phrase is used commonly in European countries.

C) This article is written by a women named Suzan Fraser, an Associated Press Writer. She is an outsiders on this issue since she is only reporting news and probably has not actually been to the country first hand.

D) The author does impact this article by the way she presents it. When she reports this issue, it seems that she is against smoking, and makes it seem like the people in Turkey are smoking way too much. She says that Turkey is a “nicotine-addicted nation” and she says all negatives about the country regarding smoking. This shows that she thinks the people in turkey are heavy smokers and probably feels that the nation has an addiction.

E) The point of view missing from this article is the view of a Turkish government official. We learn from this article about the law that was passed, but it would be good if we could learn more actions the government has for the future and if he/she feels that this law will really make people in Turkey smoke less.

F) I feel that the new law banning smoking in most enclosed areas is a step in the right direction, but it is extremely hard to stop smokers from smoking. Honestly I think that the only way smoking and tobacco distribution will be stopped is if it is made illegal, but that is unlikely to happen. I hope the people in Turkey begin to stop all the damages they are doing to themselves and also the environment. Another positive step towards a smoke-free world would be if Turkey shipped less tobacco out to other nations.