What wine goes best with Turkey Kebabs ... red or white?

Given a choice .... I would try every wine Turkey has to offer.   Unfortunately,  Erdogan does not want to give Turks that choice.  Crackdown on the wine industry is just one of the many restrictions brought about by this islamist overlord .... and surprise, surprise ... he has a large following on his side of the fence.  If  photos are to be believed these days and taken for what they seem to look like ... then his rally on Sunday had  almost a million people or maybe even more.

And, Turkey is supposed to  become the youngest member of the European Union?   What a great idea, eh?  

Trade group Wines of Turkey   is showing off the country’s top reds and whites at a packed tasting at VinExpo fair in Bordeaux this week while heavy-handed regulations are making it harder than ever for them to sell at home.

In Turkey, which boasts a 7,000-year wine history, seven wine regions, and 800 grape varieties, its more than 100 wineries face new curbs on domestic sales.

Ironically, this is happening just as its wines are getting better and better. Those made from indigenous grapes like okuzgozu and bogazkere are igniting international interest. With dozens of boutique producers established in the past decade, Turkey is experiencing a wine renaissance.

The recently-passed alcohol bill pushed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP, the Justice and Development party, was signed into law by President Abdullah Gul on June 10.

This latest effort to control where and when people drink was one trigger for the massive protests at Taksim Square.

“Wine producers are in shock,” Taner Ogutoglu, the director of Wines of Turkey, wrote in an e-mail. He’d delivered a letter on behalf of the producers to President Gul, hoping to persuade him to veto the bill. It didn’t work.

The regulations make it illegal for shops to sell alcohol between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and to display bottles where they can be seen from the street. New restaurants and shops near schools or mosques can’t offer wine at all.

The most sweeping -- and vague -- part of the law is its prohibition on advertising and promotion.....

....Doluca will no longer be able to offer its one-day winery tours from Istanbul. Kutman says new brands will suffer if they can’t talk to consumers about their wines. What will happen with wineries’ Facebook pages (FB) and Twitter feeds is unclear.

“My marketing team is already asking me, ‘Do we still have jobs?’” she adds.....