Post by The March Hare on Sept 29, 2006 11:09:18 GMT 1
Turkish convention centre bans Pepsi and Coca Cola
Friday, 29 September 2006
Sales of Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been banned in the Istanbul Convention & Exhibition Center, which hosts 1.5 million people annually. Mustafa Ozbey, the owner of the convention centre, has prohibited the sales of the internationally popular soft drinks claiming that he wants to be a good role model and protect Turks from pollutants.
Ozbey is reported as saying that the health of Turkish people was more important and that there would not be Coca-Cola or Pepsi in any part of the convention centre from this month onwards.
Ozbey said all of the canteens and kiosks around the centre belonged to them, and added, “Even if we hire them out, we will assert our prohibition.” Ozbey said the Istanbul Convention & Exhibition Center was the second biggest convention centre in the world and the biggest in Europe, and added: “About 30-40 per cent of our visitors drink Coca-Cola or Pepsi every year and, in fact, we earn a lot from these sales. Even if we only took advertisements from Coca-Cola we could earn more; however, the health of the Turkish people is more important for us.”
This is the first Turkish prohibition reported for Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which has recently also been reported as being banned in Latvia, India and a university in England based on unsupported claims that the drinks contain materials that are hazardous to health.
Friday, 29 September 2006
Sales of Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been banned in the Istanbul Convention & Exhibition Center, which hosts 1.5 million people annually. Mustafa Ozbey, the owner of the convention centre, has prohibited the sales of the internationally popular soft drinks claiming that he wants to be a good role model and protect Turks from pollutants.
Ozbey is reported as saying that the health of Turkish people was more important and that there would not be Coca-Cola or Pepsi in any part of the convention centre from this month onwards.
Ozbey said all of the canteens and kiosks around the centre belonged to them, and added, “Even if we hire them out, we will assert our prohibition.” Ozbey said the Istanbul Convention & Exhibition Center was the second biggest convention centre in the world and the biggest in Europe, and added: “About 30-40 per cent of our visitors drink Coca-Cola or Pepsi every year and, in fact, we earn a lot from these sales. Even if we only took advertisements from Coca-Cola we could earn more; however, the health of the Turkish people is more important for us.”
This is the first Turkish prohibition reported for Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which has recently also been reported as being banned in Latvia, India and a university in England based on unsupported claims that the drinks contain materials that are hazardous to health.
