Antalya urges ban on beach smoking to tackle cigarette‑butt litter

Antalya Denizcileşme Platformu President İzzet Ünlü called for a ban on smoking on Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean beaches, saying discarded cigarette butts are a major source of pollution that contaminates seawater, drains, and even drinking water. He pointed to similar prohibitions in Spain and France, where fines range from €30 to €2,000.

Ünlü urged Turkish authorities to impose comparable penalties on litterers and to give municipalities the power to fine offenders, citing examples from Eskişehir‑Odunpazarı and Bolu. He also advocated for school‑based education on marine protection, the installation of trash bins and signage on beaches, and the use of local patrols and monitoring cameras to enforce the rules.

With summer tourism swelling visitor numbers along the 640‑kilometre Antalya coastline, Ünlü warned that the sheer volume of cigarette waste threatens both public health and the marine environment, and he called on the public to adopt more responsible habits.