The tobacco control community in Türkiye is concerned about the recent corporate social responsibility launch by Philip Morris International, with regard to the earthquakes of February 6, 2023. On February 10^th PMI published on their Twitter account a message, both in Turkish and English, regarding their willingness to extend earthquake aid to Türkiye. Then, on February 15^th PMI published a second Twitter message, again in Turkish and English, explicating their commitment to participate in the humanitarian assistance and recovery efforts.

Clearly, accepting such donations from PMI or any other tobacco company would constitute a breach of Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the recommendations in its Implementation Guidelines, in particular the Recommendation 6.4. Luckily, a critical news report was readily published about PMI’s past and present corporate social responsibility efforts in times of natural disasters.

The PMI message of February 10^th read as follows: “ All our thoughts are with the people in Turkey and Syria affected by the devastating earthquakes.” In a black box, the message also included the following: “ PMI stands in solidarity with our colleagues, their families, and everyone suffering from this disaster. As always our immediate focus is providing support to those who need it most, including facilitating humanitarian assistance and recovery efforts.”

The PMI message of February 15^th read as follows: “ PMI stands in solidarity with our colleagues, their families, and everyone in Turkey and Syria suffering from the devastating earthquakes. We are committed to supporting humanitarian assistance and recovery efforts.” In a black box, the message also included the following: “ PMI has committed $2 million USD at this stage to support immediate humanitarian aid and long-term recovery assistance through partnerships with relief agencies. Our affiliate in Turkey is providing critical humanitarian supplies in the impacted region, including food and hygiene supplies, temporary shelters equipped with basic necessities, and wheelchairs. Our global employee-led charitable movement -Projects with a Hearth- launched an emergency fundraiser, which has already helped 1,720 families with urgent needs. PMI is matching all employee donations.”

Similar contributions from PMI and other tobacco companies since the formal adoption of the FCTC in 2004, as elucidated below: 

1. PMI’s charitable contributions declaration of 2011 included two separate donations made in the form of housing relief for the victims of the Van Erciş earthquake in that year, first in the amount of USD 100,000 for the housing project of 15 families, and secondly in the amount of USD 400,000 for the housing project of 60 families. News reports of the time criticized the fact that the said container settlement in Erciş served as a means of advertisement for Philip Morris and the streets in between the container houses were named after the partnering donor of PMI.
2. PMI’s charitable social declaration of 2020 included a disaster relief donation made in the amount of USD 700,000 as a contribution towards the COVID-19 emergency fund. This donation, expressed as TL 4.724.720 TL, together with another donation made by JTI in the amount of TL 1,255,000, have been acknowledged by the government as accepted donations for the said purpose.

ENSP appeals to the international community to support Türkiye in these unfortunate moments so that the tobacco industry's money is not needed. Once again, our international solidarity proves to be immensely valuable in such dire times. We seek your help and assistance to stop this insolent move by the industry and to persuade and encourage the decision-makers to openly refuse any donation coming from the tobacco industry based on their legal commitments enshrined in the FCTC.