By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
- Türkiye reports that illicit product seizures totaled TL 1.76 billion over five years, including 28.7 million vaping devices/parts and 1.07 million mL of e-liquid.
- In 2025, seizures included 341,837 devices and 9.76 million components, valued at a combined TL 554 million.
- Authorities are also targeting online sales, with action against 160 websites and blocks on 26.
Türkiye’s Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said authorities seized illicit vaping products valued at TL 1,762,796,000 (US$40.7 million) in 4,589 operations over the past five years, including 28,683,985 e-cigarette devices and parts and 1,070,586 ml of e-liquid.
Bolat said that in 2025 alone, authorities seized 341,837 e-cigarette devices valued at TL 350,405,000 and 9,759,692 e-cigarette components valued at TL 203,709,000, and described concealment methods, including hiding products on passengers’ bodies, in hidden luggage compartments, and in cavities within commercial vehicles.
Bolat said inspections are conducted using advanced scanning systems and databases, and added that authorities are also working to limit illegal online sales, reporting penal action against 160 websites and access blocks for 26. He said e-commerce platforms may face fines of up to TL 228,000 if they fail to remove unlawful content.
Türkiye has maintained strict controls on vaping products for years. In February 2020, a presidential order published in the Official Gazette banned the importation of e-cigarettes and related products, according to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) implementation database. Tobacco-control legal trackers have described the combined rules as effectively barring commercial sales by restricting legal importation and domestic production.
At the same time, the Tobacco Control Laws database notes that Türkiye’s Circular No. 2020/7 provides a limited exception for passenger imports for personal use, including one device per person and capped quantities of cartridges/solutions not exceeding 30 ml or up to 10 disposable e-cigarettes.
