Smoking Ban in Cafes and Restaurants in Türkiye: Indoor Areas, Terraces and Venue Duties

Article 2(1)(d) of the law states that tobacco products may not be consumed in privately owned restaurants and in entertainment venues such as coffee houses, cafeterias and beer halls. Article 2(1)(b) also covers the indoor areas of commercial and social buildings that more than one person may enter (private residences excluded).

• •Smoking is not allowed in the indoor areas of cafes, restaurants, bars, beer halls, coffee houses and hookah venues.
• •Hookah and tobacco-free products that imitate cigarettes or hookah are treated as tobacco products and are subject to the same ban.
• •Tobacco products and hookah may not be sold or served to anyone under 18.

The indoor-area test is not in the law itself but in Prime Ministry Circular No. 2009/13, published in the Resmî Gazete (Official Gazette) on 16 July 2009. Under the circular, an area with a fixed or mobile roof or ceiling (a tent or awning, for example) whose side surfaces, apart from doors, windows and entrances, are fully closed is an indoor area. A place with a roof where more than half of the side surfaces are closed is also treated as an indoor area.

• •A garden or terrace with no roof or ceiling: outdoor area.
• •A terrace or winter garden with a roof or awning where more than half of the sides are closed with glass, plastic, canvas or walls: indoor area, so the smoking ban applies.
• •A covered area where more than half of the sides are open: outdoor area under the test. If you close the sides in winter, remember it may become an indoor area for that period.

If you have an area with a retractable roof, ask your municipality or district health directorate whether it counts as an indoor area; the assessment depends on how the area is used.

Under Article 4 of the law, where smoking is banned, warnings stating the legal rule and the penalties for breaking it must be posted in places visible to everyone, in letters of at least ten centimetres in halls. The venue manager's duty to enforce the bans and take the measures is separately subject to a penalty under Article 5.

1. 1Post the smoking ban warning in line with the regulation in every indoor section, at the entrance and in visible places.
2. 2Do not allow cigarettes, hookah or similar products to be smoked indoors, and tell your staff this in writing.
3. 3If a customer lights up, warn them politely; if they continue, ask them to move outside the indoor area.
4. 4If you set aside an outdoor smoking section, choose a layout that stops smoke from drifting inside.

Both. A person who smokes in a banned area is fined under Article 39 of the Kabahatler Kanunu (Misdemeanours Law, No. 5326), as provided in Article 5(1) of Law No. 4207. A venue manager who fails to meet the duties on enforcing the bans and taking the measures in Article 2 faces an administrative fine imposed by the local civil authority under Article 5(2). A venue that does not post the required warnings is also penalised for breaching Article 4.

Inspection teams operate in every province under the coordination of the Ministry of Health. They inspect places such as restaurants, coffee houses, cafeterias, beer halls and hookah venues, and violations are recorded. Under the circular, sanctions are applied by those concerned, led by governors and district governors.

Anyone can report a violation to the Alo 184 SABİM line (press 2 after the opening announcement) or through the Ministry of Health's Yeşil Dedektör app. The report is routed to the nearest inspection team. Alo 171 is the smoking cessation helpline and is not used to report violations.