Şahinbey imposes closure penalties on 97 businesses over 2.5 years

Şahinbey Mayor Mehmet Tahmazoğlu said 97 businesses were ordered closed during inspections carried out in Gaziantep over approximately 2.5 years. During this period, around 100,000 businesses were inspected and legal action was taken against 9,500 workplaces.

Scraper SystemSeptember 24, 2026, 10:42 AM

Şahinbey imposes closure penalties on 97 businesses over 2.5 years

Inspections carried out to protect food safety in Gaziantep’s Şahinbey district resulted in closure penalties for 97 businesses over approximately 2.5 years. Teams from the Şahinbey Municipality Police Department inspect businesses to determine whether they comply with hygiene rules and food safety requirements.

Şahinbey Mayor Mehmet Tahmazoğlu said the inspections covered approximately 100,000 businesses during this period and that legal action was taken against 9,500 workplaces where violations were identified.

Forty-one businesses temporarily closed this year

Tahmazoğlu said a total of 41 businesses, including 14 markets, had been temporarily closed this year. Businesses that fail to comply with the rules face sanctions ranging from administrative fines to temporary closure and the cancellation of their operating licenses.

The mayor said inspections carried out in markets in 2024 identified 196,000 products past their expiration dates and that legal action was taken over those products. Tahmazoğlu said they had determined that fines were not sufficiently deterrent and stated that they decided at the beginning of 2025 to close businesses selling expired or spoiled products.

Tahmazoğlu said the number of non-compliant products had fallen to around 3,800 in the previous period and then declined to 790 after the closure penalties were announced. He said sales of non-compliant products had dropped by 99% under the policy, adding that the aim was not to close businesses but to protect public health and ensure that businesses acted more carefully on food safety.

Licenses are revoked for repeat violations

Tahmazoğlu said businesses were initially fined during the inspections, but closure sanctions were introduced after it became clear that fines did not provide sufficient deterrence. Under the policy, a business is closed for three days after a first violation and for seven days after a second. After a third violation, its operating license is revoked and the business is ordered to close permanently.

Closure decisions challenged in court

Tahmazoğlu said a chain market had filed a lawsuit against a closure decision and that six rulings had been issued in favor of the municipality by administrative and regional administrative courts. He said the rulings found that the municipality had the authority to order closures to protect public health, adding that they had strengthened the inspection practices.

The mayor said strict inspections had helped residents in Şahinbey access healthy food more safely.

Şahinbey imposes closure penalties on 97 businesses over 2.5 years