If you want to drink so drink in your house - Erdogan

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has advised members of the public upset at draconian new alcohol laws to enjoy their libations in the comfort of their own home, dismissing claims that intoxicating drinks have been banned.

“For days, there has been propaganda inside the country and abroad saying, ‘Alcohol is banned in Turkey.’ Before everything else, whoever says, writes and reports this, whoever spreads this inside the country and abroad is a liar, to say the least. We haven’t banned anything,” Erdogan said in a speech delivered at a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary group May 28.

“If you are going to drink [alcohol], then drink your alcohol in your house,” he said, noting that the criteria for the consumption of alcohol in the public sphere were set. “If you will drink, drink. We are not against this. But we are not allowing this in certain places and at certain hours – and within 100 meters of mosques and schools,” he said.

The media also received its share of criticism from Erdo?an for its stance on the issue, as he argued that some of the opponents were merely against the regulation because Islam prohibited the consumption of alcohol, meaning that they were against the dictates of Islam.


/HurriyetDailynews.Com/