Hookah operation hit Istanbul cafes

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet

Hookahs are quite popular in Istanbul cafes and are often offered indoors, as well as outdoors. They are known as “nargile” in Turkish language, and come in a variety of aromas. Hürriyet photo

A series of inspections over the weekend caused Istanbul cafes to put away their hookah (nargile) in line with recent regulation changes, according to daily Hürriyet.

The operation, focused on cafes in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district, prompted an end to the offering of hookahs in cafes due to the extreme restrictions that left almost every café out of the permitted category.

Some of the cafes lacked licenses to sell hookahs and others were outside of the permitted areas which the recent change in regulations defined as 200 meters from any schools. The cafes lacking licenses will be subjected to a monetary fine of at least 23,000 Turkish Liras and could be shut down if the offense is repeated three times.

The weekend’s operation caused almost all of Beşiktaş cafes to shelve their hookahs, since the new regulations were nearly impossible to keep up with.

The regulations further banned selling and consuming hookahs indoors as well. Hookah bottles were also altered, where several warnings were placed on the banners.

Hookahs are quite popular in Istanbul cafes and are often offered indoors, as well as outdoors. They are known as “nargile” in Turkish language, and come in a variety of aromas.