At least 17 people have died and 22 others are being treated in hospital after consuming contaminated alcohol, Turkish media report.
Eight people suspected of supplying the alcoholic drinks have been detained.
Last week, authorities announced they had seized 410 litres of ethanol and methanol, 165 bottles of smuggled alcohol and equipment used to produce alcoholic drinks, AFP reported.
Fake alcohol poisonings are common in Turkey, where private production has boomed since authorities increased taxes on alcoholic drinks.
In late 2021, at least 25 people died in a matter of days in several different regions. The year before, around 40 people lost their lives as a result of alcohol poisoning.
Raki, the national aniseed-flavoured alcoholic drink, costs around 1300 lira a litre in the supermarket, in a country where the minimum wage is 17,000 lira a month.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been accused of trying to Islamicize society in the officially secular state. He often criticises alcohol and tobacco consumption. | BGNES
