Tekel
 |
|
| subsidiary | |
| Industry | Tobacco |
| Founded | 1862 |
| Headquarters | Istanbul, Turkey |
|
Key people
|
Maliye Bakani (general director) |
| Products | Tobacco |
| Revenue | $3.6 Billion USD (2004) |
| $2.4 billion USD (2004) | |
|
Number of employees
|
3,900 |
| Parent | British American Tobacco |
| Website | www.tekel.gov.tr/english/ |
Tekel, (Turkish, literally single-hand or monopoly and generally capitalised as TEKEL) was a Turkish tobacco and alcoholic beverages company. It was nationalised in 1925 from a parastatal (government owned/controlled) company, the Régie. A joint foreign and Ottoman consortium, the Régie was short for "La Société de la régie co-intéressée des tabacs de l'Empire Ottoman". Tekel evolved into the sole manufacturer and distributor of all alcohol and tobacco products in Turkey. Today, Tekel is no longer a monopoly but it does control taxing and distribution of all alcohol and tobacco products in Turkey. In 2008 it was sold to British American Tobacco and discontinued as a trademark in cigarettes, wines, liquors or other products, although some of its brand names are still used without the word "Tekel" preceding them; like the Buzbağ wine.
Turkish tobacco was an important industrial crop, where its cultivation and manufacture were monopolies under capitulations of the Ottoman Empire. The tobacco and cigarette trade was controlled by two French companies the "Regie Compagnie interessee des tabacs de l'empire Ottoman", and "Narquileh tobacco." These companies founded as a monopoly in 1862 by the Ottoman government for the payment of its international debt. Original purpose of the company was to deal with tobacco products. It later became a part of an even greater monopoly, REJI, which controlled all trade, finance, and manufacturing in the empire.
For the first time in 1862, via commercial agreements between Ottoman Government, France and Britain, tobacco importation has been prohibited and monopoly has been established.
In accordance with the “Rusumu Sitte” Decree published in 1879, the monopoly income of salt, tobacco and alcohol have been left for first to foreign bankers and later to “Duyun-u Umumiye (Public Debts)”. Later on, the operation of the Tobacco Monopoly has been transferred to “Memaliki Osmaniye Duhanları Müşterek Menfaa REJI Şirketi”.
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Wikipedia