Turkish tainted alcohol death toll rises to 33

Thirty-three people have died in Istanbul this week after having drunk tainted alcohol while 48 others received hospital treatment, Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu reported on Thursday.

A previous toll on Wednesday counted 23 deaths since Monday in Turkey’s largest city.

Drinks adulterated with methanol, an industrial alcohol distinct from the ethanol present in alcoholic beverages, are suspected of being the cause of the deaths.

Four people suspected of having sold contaminated alcoholic drinks were arrested for “intentional homicide,” the city’s governorate said in a statement on Thursday evening.

Since January 1, authorities have seized 29 tonnes of adulterated alcohol in Istanbul while 64 businesses have had their licenses revoked, the governorate added.

Store owners have blamed the government for this wave of deaths, arguing that high taxes on alcohol encourage bootleg home distilling.

Poisonings from adulterated alcohol are quite common in Turkey, where private production has shot up in the wake of the cranked-up levies.

Such alcohol poisoning killed 48 people in Istanbul in 2024, according to the authorities.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a devout Muslim accused by his opponents of wanting to “Islamize society,” has repeatedly expressed opposition to drinking and smoking.