BEZIKDUZU, TURKEY – Not everyone drinks alcohol but should you have to pay with your life if you do?
Booze. Hooch. ‘Giggle juice’. Goof. These are all terms for alcohol in English – and there are many more.
Alcohol has been with us for more than 7,000 years. The first tipples were barley beer and wine made from grapes in the Middle East – the cradle of civilisation. The Book of Genesis tells us that one of the first things Noah did after the great flood was plant a vineyard. Seriously? That was his first priority?
Of course, many people do not drink and there are some faiths where the very concept is forbidden. Islam is a good example. It believes that the consumption of spirits “drives people away from the remembrance of God.” Not surprisingly, then, jihadis also frown on alcohol – and they will kill over it.
On this day in 2009
A bomb exploded in a bar in northern Turkey, injuring nine people in the town of Besikduzu in Trabzon province. While the governor stated he did not think the attack was tied to terrorism, radical Islamic groups have targeted places selling alcohol in the past.
This restriction has got nothing to do with the pandemic. It’s completely ideological. And it’s the latest example of an attempt to interfere in people’s lifestyles.
CHP MP Veli Akbaba referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government banned sales of alcohol
Like many people I drink occasionally (my go-to drinks are craft beer, wine and scotch – single malt of course!). That is my right to do so and no jihadi or fundamentalist has a say in that.
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