Ramazan Bingöl

Thousands of people have issued a call to boycott restaurants and cafes this weekend, accusing business owners of exploiting economic issues and inflation as an excuse to set exorbitant prices.

The boycott plea has resonated widely among the public, with several prominent figures lending their support.

Turkish restaurants are facing a growing problem of customers making reservations and then not showing up, and to combat this issue, the industry is considering implementing a prepayment system for reservations, a sector representative has announced.

The head of an umbrella organization of restaurants has called on all eating houses to freeze prices until Ramadan, pointing out the "recent decline in many input prices."

With an aim to establish their local success on institutionalization in international arena, famous Turkish food and beverage chains have rolled up their sleeves to open new branches abroad and flourish Turkish cuisine globally.

Some restaurants apparently began charging customers for heating in the face of rising electricity prices and other costs, triggering a debate and criticism among people, but representatives from the sector say this is not a widespread policy.

Turkey's restaurants that had been closed for months before are now bracing for a fallout from restrictive measures to be implemented during the upcoming Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

In March, the government allowed eateries to receive customers during certain business hours at 50 percent capacity under its controlled normalization program.