After four months of struggle, representatives of the tourism industry finally managed to repeal the "dry law". The Council of State (the country's highest cassation instance), having examined the case, concluded that "the restriction related to the determination of places where the consumption of alcoholic beverages is permitted contradicts legal norms and current legislation". Let us recall that the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs in October last year restricted the sale of alcohol in the country and issued an order to select special streets and areas where drinking establishments could be located. This decision caused extreme discontent among representatives of the tourism industry, which annually brings Turkey revenues exceeding $15 billion. Only the "Turkish Riviera" – Antalya – is visited by about 10 million tourists a year.
The "dry law" was introduced at the initiative of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), headed by the country's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This party had previously pushed through the introduction of a "dry law" in the state catering sector, justifying its initiatives by the fact that a ban on alcohol consumption would help strengthen the family and protect young people from bad influence. In four months, this law managed to "dry out" the entire country, and the upcoming tourist season was on the verge of collapse.
But if lobbyists from the tourism industry managed to repeal the "dry law", they are powerless against the threats of terrorist attacks emanating from Kurdish separatists seeking to create their own independent state in eastern Turkey. On Saturday, the radical group "Kurdistan Freedom Hawks", linked to the Kurdistan People's Congress (formerly the Kurdistan Workers' Party – PKK), outlawed in Turkey, claimed responsibility for the attack committed last Friday in Istanbul. Let us recall that a bomb hidden in a trash can then went off at a bus stop. As a result of the explosion, one person was killed and 13 were injured. In its statement, the "Hawks" said that this explosion was an act of revenge against the Turkish authorities for the mass killings of Kurds in the southeast of the country, and threatened new attacks in response to any actions by the authorities against Kurdish separatists. "We will turn Turkey into hell. The explosion carried out by our combat unit in Istanbul's Kocamustafa district is only a warning", the statement of this radical group said.
Meanwhile, the situation in southeastern Turkey, where Kurds mainly live, remains very tense. New riots broke out in the cities of Diyarbakir and Batman at the end of last week. PKK supporters threw stones at police and Molotov cocktails at armored personnel carriers. On Friday, unrest spread to the neighboring city of Batman, where Kurdish protesters demanded the withdrawal of government troops from the region. The rally ended with pogroms against government institutions and offices of trading companies. On Saturday, Kurdish protests continued, spreading to the city of Kızıltepe.