Turkey is facing one of its deadliest bootleg alcohol crises in years, with at least 124 people dead in Ankara and Istanbul over a six-week period and dozens more in intensive care, according to state news agency Anadolu. The scale alone makes the story alarming. The source goes further, though, by tying the deaths to counterfeit alcohol contaminated with methanol, a toxic substance that can cause blindness, liver damage and death.
The report says 54 people died in Ankara and another 70 in Istanbul, though the deaths were recorded over slightly different periods as the toll rose. It also says 28 suspects were arrested in Ankara in connection with the production and sale of counterfeit alcohol, with all but three later granted conditional release. That means the crisis is not only a public-health disaster but also a criminal investigation into supply chains that are still operating despite repeated deaths.
Methanol contamination is central to the danger. Anadolu explains that counterfeit producers often use methanol because it is cheaper than ethanol, even though it is far more dangerous. The result is not just intoxication but poisoning. The report explicitly notes that methanol can cause blindness, liver damage and death, which is why these incidents often become mass-casualty events rather than isolated poisonings.
The article also places the problem inside Turkey's tax and regulatory environment. It notes that alcohol prices have risen sharply under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and that critics say high costs are fueling moonshine production. The source quotes a 2015 USDA report describing counterfeit products as cheaper and therefore more attractive to consumers or even tourist companies looking to cut costs. That context helps explain why the black market remains resilient despite periodic crackdowns.
The deaths in Ankara were especially severe. Anadolu said 54 people had died there, with another 40 fighting for their lives in hospital at one stage. Earlier in the month, the toll in Ankara was much lower, showing how quickly the situation deteriorated. The Istanbul toll also rose over time: the report says 38 people died in the space of four days there before the death count later reached 70, with other patients still being treated.
There is no sign in the source material that the crisis had been contained. Anadolu notes that after its February 7 update, there were no further official updates for another three weeks, leaving uncertainty about how many of the hospitalized patients survived. That silence itself is a warning sign in a poisonings story, because the final death toll can lag behind the initial outbreak by weeks.
The case also has a political edge. Alcohol taxes in Turkey have risen under a president who has often spoken against drinking, and that has helped create a market for cheaper illicit liquor. The source presents that as part of the reason counterfeit alcohol remains widespread. In other words, the crisis is not simply about bad chemistry; it is about price, policy and enforcement.
For public-health officials, the immediate challenge is to keep people from buying or making more of the same product. For police, the challenge is to keep disrupting the networks that produce it. And for the families of the dead, the numbers in the Anadolu report are already devastating: at least 124 lives lost across two major cities, with more people still in hospital and a criminal case that is nowhere near finished.
