Istanbul police monitored citizens drinking alcohol in public spaces with drones and announced that they should leave the area. On 30 August in Fatih, citizens sitting near the city walls were told by drone, “Drinking alcohol is prohibited in this area, leave immediately”; a similar practice took place the next day on the Üsküdar waterfront. The Istanbul Police Department used drones during public order inspections in all 39 districts. Constitutional law expert Levent Korkut said there was no general regulation banning alcohol consumption in open areas such as parks and gardens and that tracking citizens by drone interfered with privacy. Human Rights Association executive board member Cüneyt Yılmaz also said the practice had no legal basis and that surveillance technologies were being used to intervene in daily life.
2 September 2026
Evrensel