Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan has announced he will not allow e-cigarettes to be produced in Turkey, Reuters reported.

Whilst speaking at an anti-smoking event in Istanbul, Erdogan announced that he would never allow e-cigarettes to be produced in Turkey. Vaping itself is currently legal in Turkey, although the purchase and distribution of e-cigarettes is not. This has led to some citizens purchasing e-cigarettes and liquids online instead.
Erdogan was quoted as saying, “They asked us for a place and permission to produce these (e-cigarettes). We didn’t give it to them and we will not.” However, he did not mention which firm, or firms, this was in referral to, according to the article. Erdogan also told his audience, “Let’s put down cigarettes and drink our Rize tea,” a reference to a type of tea from his hometown in the Black Sea region.
Erdogan has actively spoken out against smoking before and, in 2013, his government banned all advertisements, promotions and sponsorships of tobacco and alcohol products. Since then, such products have often been blurred out when they appear in television shows.
According to the article, data from the World Health Organisation found that in 2016 around 27 per cent of the Turkish population over the age of 15 were smokers. This was a drop from 31 per cent in 2010. The majority of smokers at this time were male.