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Smoking may be banned at Baku seaside park

23 August 2013 11:13 (UTC+04:00)
Smoking may be banned at Baku seaside park

By Nazrin Gadimova

Smoking may be banned at the National Seaside Park (boulevard) of Baku, Azerbaijani parliament member Musa Guliyev said on August 21.

According to Guliyev, Azerbaijan has a policy of a gradual ban on smoking in public places.

"We have studied the experience of foreign countries and came to a conclusion that in those countries where smoking in public places is completely banned the fight against smoking has weakened and hit a dead end," Guliyev said. "For example, the fight against smoking began to wane in Russia though the country has passed such a law three times. It again shows that people should consciously be ready for this fight. For this reason we are not fully adopting this law in Azerbaijan and have decided to apply it in parts."

The MP said that Azerbaijan primarily banned smoking in public transport and a fine of 50 manats is applied to violators.

As the second step of the anti-smoking efforts the area of ​​the Old City of Baku was declared a natural reserve and smoking in its territory was prohibited.

"It is expected that the next stage of this fight will be a ban on smoking in the National Park. Relevant entities have already put this issue on the agenda," Guliyev said.

According to him, the issue of increasing the excise tax on tobacco products, which is also one of the steps aimed at reducing the number of smokers, may be discussed. The question of restricting smoking in public places will be once again discussed in parliament during the fall session and it will be suggested to completely ban smoking in enclosed spaces.

In addition, the administration of the National Seaside Park said that in 2014 free sports grounds equipped with exercise machines will be created in the new part of the boulevard.

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