Turkey has announced plans to extend new restrictions on the sale of alcohol that could mean sweeping changes to the licensing and trade in alcoholic beverages, going beyond the current national COVID-19 lockdown.

Last month, lawmakers in the ruling Justice and Development party banned the sale of alcohol for the entire seventeen days of the planned COVID-19 curfew, which has coincided with the holy month of Ramadan. At the time, lawmakers claimed that failure to act would have given an unfair advantage to supermarkets, which have been allowed to stay open for essential food shopping, over smaller shops that have been obliged to close. 

Now the country's interior ministry has proposed laws that will strip local municipalities of their existing powers to grant licenses for the sale of alcohol, instead transferring decision-making to local governors in districts and provinces, when lockdown conditions end on May 17th. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies will be given the final say on whether to allow drinking establishments to open, or to extend licenses for existing outlets .

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The draft legislation has described Turkey's bars, beer houses and traditional "meyhan" taverns as "problem areas", that disrupt local residents and risk disturbing the peace. 

The sale and consumption of alcohol is a sensitive subject in Turkey, that has traditionally divided public opinion between secular Turks, who favor a liberal, western style approach to the issue, and the conservative, religious classes who make up the support base of President Erdogan's AK Party.

Since coming to power in 2002, the administration has toughened the legal regime around alcohol. Prices on some goods have risen by an estimated 1,800 percent, mostly through tax increases, kiosks are no longer allowed to sell liquor after 10 o'clock at night, and its consumption is pixelated on TV programs and in films. Illegal bootlegging and home brewing of wines and spirits have boomed, with a spate of deaths arising from people drinking unsafe beverages.    

Last month's attempt to impose a temporary ban on sales, described by Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu as "consistent with scientific opinion", has been widely challenged. Many smaller retail outlets have openly flouted the ruling, while Ankara's Bar Association filed a lawsuit against the decision, claiming it has no legal basis.   

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has described the recent changes as "an attack on justice and freedom". Other opponents claim the plans will marginalize premises selling alcohol, by pushing them into small permitted "zones", similar to those governing the sex industry.   

Turkey joined South Africa, Thailand and India in imposing an outright ban on alcohol sales as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The proposals are part of a package of amendments to nine separate existing laws that will be debated when parliament returns to session after the festive holiday break. 

Businesses that fail to adhere to the planned changes have been warned of a system of escalating fines and ultimately loss of license and closure of premises for repeat offenders.