The victims are found in several of the city's districts. On Friday, Turkish police seized over 500 bottles in the Sultangazi and Fatih districts in central Istanbul, according to Hürriyet.
Earlier reports also state that thousands of bottles have been seized in recent weeks, including directly from store shelves.
What is in the "bootleg liquor" is unclear, but often in such cases, methanol – an extremely toxic and dangerous type of alcohol compared to the ethanol normally found in spirits – has been mixed in.
Drink prices are a hot political issue in Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has gradually increased the "luxury tax" ÖTV on alcohol. Officially, it is for health reasons, but he is also accused of Islamist motives, since it is forbidden for devout Muslims to drink spirits.
