Smoking or Vaping at Istanbul Airport: Law 4207 and the Fine

1. Where Law No. 4207 Prohibits Smoking: Article 2

Law No. 4207 Article 2(1) lists the places where tobacco products cannot be consumed (tüketilemez). The entries that matter to a traveller are these:

1. (a) The closed areas of public-service buildings (kamu hizmet binalarının kapalı alanları).
2. (b) The closed areas, including corridors, of buildings belonging to private-law persons that are used for education, health, production, trade, social, cultural, sports, entertainment and similar purposes and that more than one person may enter (homes used as residences are excluded).
3. (c) Road, rail, sea and air public transport vehicles, including taxis, and the driver's seat of private vehicles.
4. (d) Restaurants and entertainment businesses such as coffee houses, cafeterias and beer halls belonging to private-law persons.

Article 2(1) also lists, in entry (ç), the closed and open areas of schools and of culture and social service buildings.

Three points follow from the wording.

First, the text does not name airports. A terminal is a closed building that many people enter. Whether its closed areas fall within entry (a), as a public-service building, or entry (b), as a building belonging to private-law persons, depends on the building and is assessed on the facts. Both entries cover closed areas. This guide does not address other rules that may apply in open areas around a terminal.

Second, entry (c) covers air public transport vehicles. The prohibition in Law No. 4207 Article 2(1) therefore covers air public transport vehicles as well as the closed areas of buildings.

Third, the Law expects warnings to be visible. Under Law No. 4207 Article 4(1), warnings stating the legal rule and the penal consequences of not complying with it are posted where everyone can see them in places where smoking tobacco products is prohibited.

Designated smoking areas. Istanbul Airport has designated smoking areas. Law No. 4207 Article 2(5) requires closed areas allocated for consuming tobacco products under the Law to be isolated so that smell and smoke do not pass and to be equipped with ventilation. The fine provision for public-service buildings, Law No. 5326 Article 39(1), states that it does not apply in areas allocated for consuming tobacco goods (Section 3). A traveller who wants to smoke can look for those areas and the signs that mark them, rather than a quiet corner.

2. Cigarettes, Heated Tobacco and E-Cigarettes: What the Definition Says

Whether vaping falls under the same prohibition depends on what the Law treats as a "tobacco product". The definition is in Law No. 4207 Article 2(6), and it has two parts.

The first sentence. For the application of the Law, a "tobacco product" means a substance manufactured to be used by smoking, sucking, chewing or sniffing (tüttürme, emme, çiğneme ya da buruna çekerek) and made wholly or partly from tobacco leaf as raw material.

The second sentence (added by Law No. 6487 in 2013). Any nargile and cigarette that does not contain tobacco but is used in a way that imitates a tobacco product is accepted as a tobacco product.

What the text does not do is name electronic cigarettes, vapes or heated tobacco products as such. For a particular device or stick, the questions the definition raises are whether it is made wholly or partly from tobacco leaf, how it is used, and, where it contains no tobacco, whether it is a nargile or cigarette used in a way that imitates a tobacco product. Those questions are assessed by the authority that imposes a fine and, if the person applies against it, by the court.

The safe course follows from this. A traveller should not assume that vaping or heated tobacco is permitted where smoking is prohibited. If you use either, use it where smoking is allowed, such as a designated smoking area, and follow staff instructions and the signs.

3. Who Fines You and How: Law No. 4207 Article 5 and Law No. 5326 Article 39

Law No. 4207 does not set its own fine for the smoker. Law No. 4207 Article 5(1) provides that a person who consumes tobacco products in the areas listed in Article 2(1) and (4) is punished under Law No. 5326 Article 39. That Article, headed "Consumption of tobacco goods" (tütün mamullerinin tüketilmesi), has three paragraphs, and each names a different decision-maker.

Law No. 5326 Article 39(1) — closed areas of public-service buildings. A person who consumes tobacco goods in the closed areas of public-service buildings is given an administrative fine by the public officials authorised by the head of the relevant administrative unit. This paragraph does not apply in areas allocated for consuming tobacco goods.

Law No. 5326 Article 39(2) — public transport vehicles. A person who consumes tobacco goods in public transport vehicles is given an administrative fine. Where the misdemeanour is committed in public transport vehicles operated by private-law persons, the fine is imposed by the officials of the law enforcement unit first applied to (ilk başvurulan kolluk birim yetkilileri). Where it is committed in publicly owned public transport vehicles, paragraph (1) applies to the power to impose the fine.

Law No. 5326 Article 39(3) — closed areas of buildings belonging to private-law persons that everyone may enter. A person who acts against the prohibition despite a clear sign stating that tobacco goods cannot be consumed is given an administrative fine. This fine is imposed on complaint, by the officials of the nearest law enforcement unit.

This structure matches the general rule in Law No. 5326 Article 22(1): the administrative boards, authorities or public officials expressly named in the relevant law are competent to impose an administrative sanction for a misdemeanour.

Cigarette ends. Law No. 4207 Article 3(12) provides that cigarette ends, packets, filters, papers and similar waste cannot be thrown into the environment. Under Law No. 4207 Article 5(1), the fine for this is imposed in the closed and open areas of public-service buildings by public officials authorised by the head of the relevant administrative unit, and in the closed and open areas of private buildings that everyone may enter, streets and other public areas by municipal police officers (belediye zabıta görevlileri). The same paragraph adds that where the person immediately removes the pollution caused, the authority may decide not to impose an administrative fine (idari para cezasına karar verilmeyebilir).

The amount. Law No. 5326 Article 39 states a fixed amount. That figure is not today's figure. Under Law No. 5326 Article 17(7), administrative fines are applied increased every calendar year by the revaluation rate determined and announced under the Tax Procedure Law, effective from the start of each year. The amount that applies is the amount in force on the date of the act, and this guide does not quote a lira figure.

4. Smoking or Vaping on Board: The Captain's Powers under Law No. 2920

On board, two sets of rules meet: the prohibition in Law No. 4207 Article 2(1)(c) and the Civil Aviation Law.

Law No. 2920 Article 104. Passengers must comply with the international agreements to which Türkiye is a party, with the provisions of this Law, and with the instructions of the airport authority and the carrier, and must avoid any act or behaviour that would disturb the safety of life and property or the discipline and order of the journey.

Law No. 2920 Article 101. The pilot in command is authorised to take measures to ensure safety and order on the aircraft, to give orders and instructions for this purpose to passengers, crew and other persons on board, and, where necessary, to remove them from the aircraft.

Law No. 2920 Article 102. The pilot in command must collect and keep evidence relating to crimes or misdemeanours committed on the aircraft. Where safety of life and property is threatened, or delay could cause harm, the pilot in command, personally or with the crew, is authorised to take the necessary measures, to hold persons until law enforcement officers take over the incident, to search persons or their belongings, and to retain items whose possession constitutes a crime or misdemeanour. Under Law No. 2920 Article 102, the pilot in command must also refer the situation to the competent authorities as soon as possible and give a detailed report.

For a traveller, this means that a cabin incident does not end at the aircraft door. The crew's record and the captain's report may be what the officers meeting the flight read first.

5. Misdemeanour or Criminal Case? The Two Routes Side by Side

Under Law No. 5326 Article 2(1), a misdemeanour (kabahat) is a wrongdoing for which the law provides an administrative sanction. A crime (suç) is defined in the Penal Code and other criminal laws. The table sets out the text of the law for each route; which route applies is decided on the facts.

When can it escalate?

Smoking where it is prohibited is, on the text of Law No. 4207 Article 5(1), a matter for an administrative fine under Law No. 5326 Article 39. Three provisions mark where the same moment can become more serious.

Disobeying an order: Law No. 5326 Article 32. Under Law No. 5326 Article 32(1), a person who acts against an order given lawfully by competent authorities for judicial procedures, or to protect public security, public order or general health, is given an administrative fine by the authority that gave the order. Law No. 5326 Article 32(2) sets the limit: the article can be applied only where the relevant law contains an express provision to that effect. The text of Law No. 4207 does not refer to Law No. 5326 Article 32.

Force or threats against an official: TCK Article 265. Under TCK Article 265(1), a person who uses force or threats against a public official in order to prevent them from performing their duty is punished with imprisonment. The elements in the text are force or threats, and the purpose of preventing the official from performing the duty. An argument about a cigarette is not described by those words; a push or a threat aimed at stopping an officer from acting may be.

Both at once: Law No. 5326 Article 15(3). Where an act is defined both as a misdemeanour and as a crime, a sanction can be applied only for the crime; where a sanction for the crime cannot be applied, the sanction for the misdemeanour is applied.

6. Paying the Fine or Challenging It: Articles 17, 27, 28 and 31

Law No. 5326 Article 3(1) provides that the Law's provisions on remedies against administrative sanction decisions apply unless other laws provide otherwise, and that its other general provisions apply to all acts that call for an administrative fine. A traveller who receives a fine under Article 39 therefore has two decisions to make: whether to pay, and whether to challenge. Law No. 5326 lets them do both.

Paying

Law No. 5326 Article 17(6). The public officer who imposes an administrative fine for a misdemeanour collects it immediately themselves if the person concerned consents. Where the relevant law does not set a payment period, the administrative fine is paid within one month of its notification. If it is paid within the payment period, a 25% reduction is made. Paying does not affect the person's right to apply for a legal remedy against the decision.

Law No. 5326 Article 17(3). Where the person's economic situation does not allow it, it may be decided that the fine is paid in four equal instalments within one year, on condition that the first instalment is paid in advance. If the instalments are not paid in full and on time, the whole remaining amount is collected.

Challenging

Law No. 5326 Article 27(1). An application against an administrative fine may be made within fifteen days at the latest from the date of notification (tebliğ) or announcement (tefhim) of the decision, to the court the statute names: the sulh ceza mahkemesi. If no application is made within this period, the administrative sanction decision becomes final.

Law No. 5326 Article 27(2). If the period was missed because of force majeure (mücbir sebep), the application may be made within seven days at the latest from the date the cause ends. This application does not prevent the decision from becoming final, but the court may stop its enforcement.

Law No. 5326 Article 27(3). The application is made in person, by the legal representative or by a lawyer, with a petition given to the court, in two copies. Under Law No. 5326 Article 27(4), the petition sets out clearly the information about the decision and the evidence relied on against it, and states the grounds of any force majeure.

Law No. 5326 Article 28(8). At the end of the examination, the court decides either to reject the application, because the decision is lawful, or to lift the administrative sanction decision, because it is unlawful.

Law No. 5326 Article 31. The application against an administrative sanction decision is not subject to a court fee (Art. 31(1)). The costs of the remedy and the attorney's fee are paid by the party whose application or defence is rejected (Art. 31(2)).

What an application can raise follows from the provisions above: whether the place was one listed in Law No. 4207 Article 2(1); whether it was an area allocated for consuming tobacco goods, where Law No. 5326 Article 39(1) does not apply; for a private building, whether there was a clear sign and a complaint, as Article 39(3) requires; whether the officials who imposed the fine are the ones the paragraph names; and, for a device, whether it falls within the definition in Law No. 4207 Article 2(6). The court assesses each point on the evidence.

7. Step by Step: What a Traveller Can Do

1. Stop when asked. Put the cigarette or device away and follow staff and crew instructions. On board, passengers must comply with the carrier's instructions under Law No. 2920 Article 104.
2. Use the designated areas. Look for the designated smoking areas and their signs; do not treat a quiet corner or a washroom as one.
3. Do not assume vaping is different. The definition in Law No. 4207 Article 2(6) does not name e-cigarettes or heated tobacco; the safe course is to treat them as you would a cigarette.
4. Keep your words and hands to yourself. TCK Article 265(1) is built on force or threats used to prevent an official from performing their duty.
5. Keep every document you are given. Note the date on which a fine decision was notified or announced to you: the fifteen-day period in Law No. 5326 Article 27(1) runs from that date.
6. Decide on payment with the reduction in mind. Under Law No. 5326 Article 17(6), a fine paid within the payment period is reduced by 25%, and payment does not affect your right to challenge the decision.
7. If you think the fine was wrong, apply in time. The application goes to the sulh ceza mahkemesi named in Law No. 5326 Article 27(1), by petition in two copies, with the information about the decision and your evidence; no court fee is charged.
8. If you are leaving Türkiye, arrange for a lawyer. Under Law No. 5326 Article 27(3), an application against the fine may be made by a lawyer.

If you or someone travelling with you has been fined or held after smoking or vaping at Istanbul Airport, at Sabiha Gökçen or on a flight, a lawyer can explain these rules in your language and look at the documents you were given. Guidance can start on WhatsApp. See also our pages on criminal defence in Türkiye and giving a statement (ifade), and our guide to what happens at the police station after an airport arrest.