Tea gardens to be closed on election day: Supreme Board of Elections
ANKARA
Tea gardens across Turkey will be closed on June 24, the day of presidential and parliamentary elections, the Supreme Board of Elections (YSK) has announced on its website.
In its decision dated June 19, the YSK recalled its circular note issued on April 27 indicating that “all public amusement places such as coffee houses, reading houses and internet cafes will stay closed during the voting period on the polling day, and restaurants with entertainment facilities will only serve food.”
The YSK added that places like hotels, guesthouses, campsites, casinos, night clubs, pubs, beer houses, cinemas, and coffee houses are regarded entertainment venues in the law of police powers.
In this context, the YSK decided tea gardens should also be taken as entertainment venues, hence they should be closed on election day.
The YSK decision was given in response to an application by Sebahattin Gökdere, a tea garden owner in the western province of Manisa, asking if he could be open for service on election day, as his tea garden only serves tea and toasted sandwiches.
Meanwhile, the YSK also decided the canteens in schools, which will be used as polling stations in elections, should stay open.
