The Foreign Office has issued a warning to British tourists in Turkey following a sharp increase in deaths and serious illnesses linked to counterfeit alcohol. Over the past two months, 124 people have died across the country, with 230 hospitalised since New Year’s Day.
In a particularly severe two-week period in early January, 70 deaths were recorded in Istanbul and a further 33 in the capital Ankara. Authorities attribute the rise to the growing availability of illegally produced spirits and fake branded alcohol, spurred by high taxes and rapid inflation.
President Erdogan’s government has significantly increased taxes on alcoholic beverages in recent years, making legitimate drinks prohibitively expensive for many. This has driven a surge in homemade and bootleg alternatives, which often contain toxic levels of methanol.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “There has been an increase in the number of deaths and serious illnesses in Turkey, including in Ankara and Istanbul, caused by drinking illegally produced local spirits and counterfeit bottles of branded alcohol.”
The British government advises tourists to only buy alcoholic drinks from licensed liquor stores, bars, and hotels, and to check that bottle seals are intact. Labels with poor print quality or incorrect spelling may indicate counterfeit products.
The warning follows a similar incident in Laos last year, where six backpackers, including 28-year-old Simone White from Orpington, died after consuming free drinks suspected to be contaminated with methanol.
