Turkey

Project and Country Background

Turkey has a population of 79.6 million people; 30.9 percent of the adult population and 16.8 percent of the youth population smoke tobacco products.1 An estimated 65,340 people die in Turkey each year from diseases caused by smoking.2

TPackSS worked with in-country collaborators to purchase cigarettes in three major cities: Istanbul, Konya and Diyarbakir. Within each city, packs were collected from a sample of 12 economically and socially diverse neighborhoods. Data collectors purchased one of every unique cigarette pack available from vendors selected in each neighborhood. From September 17 to October 9, 2013, data collectors purchased 308 unique cigarette packs.

The tobacco packaging and labeling requirements in effect at the time of data collection were used to assess each tobacco pack’s compliance with the requirements.

Suggested Citation for Information on this Page: Tobacco Pack Surveillance System (TPackSS). Turkey: Project and Country Background. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. http://globaltobaccocontrol.org/tpackss/country/turkey [Insert Last Updated Date].

In 2009, British American Tobacco (BAT) challenged the Tobacco and Alcohol Markets Regulatory Authority (TAPDK) regulation requiring that pictorial health warnings cover no less than 65% of the package of smoked tobacco products. However, the court upheld TAPDK's authority to mandate packaging and labeling regulations.
Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids Tobacco Control Laws

Browse packs from Turkey

Highlights of Packaging and Labeling Requirements by Data Collection Year

Data collection dates Type of warning Warning label size and layout Number of warnings to be displayed Rotation Rules for misleading descriptors Other warning label requirements considered during coding

Sept. 17 to Oct. 9, 2013

[308 unique packs collected]

Picture and Text
65% of front (picture), 65% of back (text)

16

All labels displayed concurrently and are intended to be changed every 14 months

Some restrictions

Warnings may not be placed where they are concealed or damaged when opening the pack or obscured by tax stamps. Warning to begin at the end of the lid and/or the finishing line of the tax stamp on the front and back of pack. Warning text in black with a 3-4 mm black border on the front and back.

Tobacco packaging and labeling in Turkey is regulated under the Law on Prevention and Control of Hazards of Tobacco Products (Law No. 4207). In 2008, Law No. 5727 was passed as an amendment to Law No. 4207, and set forth further regulations for tobacco packaging and labeling. The Regulation on Methods and Essentials concerning the Manufacture Type, Labeling and Surveillance for the Protection from the Damages of Tobacco Products and Decision No. 4721 of the Tobacco & Alcohol Market Coordination Committee (TAPDK) specify requirements for the implementation of packaging requirements under Law No. 4207.3

  1. WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, Country profile Turkey. (2017). Retrieved October 25, 2018

    from http://www.who.int/tobacco/surveillance/policy/country_profile/tur.pdf.

  2. Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 (GBD 2016) Results by Location, Cause, and Risk Factor. Retrieved October 31, 2018

    from http://ihmeuw.org/4mh9.

  3. Tobacco Control Laws Country Details for Turkey: Packaging and Labeling. (2015). Retrieved April 21, 2016

    from http://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/legislation/country/turkey/pl-health-warnings.