As you know, there has been a big taxi crisis in Istanbul for a long time. In these times, when we wake up to new news that taxi drivers are fined for not accepting domestic customers, the trouble started to spread to the world press.
Bethan McKernan from The Guardian newspaper was one of the names who shared her thoughts on this subject in the most comprehensive way. Pointing to the plate mafia as one of the biggest causes of the crisis, McKernan said that the solutions produced by Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on this issue were repeatedly rejected by the union and that the incident would reach more serious dimensions.
Hard headline from The Guardian: “Towards the dark world of taxi mafia in Istanbul”
Despite the increase in the population of Istanbul, the number of taxis continued to remain constant, so people began to be unable to meet one of their simplest needs, transportation, through taxis. Although taxi drivers, who prefer tourists only because they can earn more income, continue to be fined for not accepting local customers, these fines are not enough to deter them and people in Istanbul continue to suffer.
McKernan stated that 43 thousand complaints were received about taxi drivers only this year, and in his article, Utku Cihan, Head of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Transportation Administration, said, “We have submitted reports showing that we need to add 6,000 licensed taxi plates, but the union rejects this.”
One of the details McKernan underlined was that the taxi drivers had bloody knives with pirate taxi drivers, and even did everything they could to get Uber out of the country. He also stated that local customers are often exposed to incidents such as racism, verbal and physical abuse, even if they find a taxi.
Emphasizing that despite Imamoglu’s efforts, nothing has been done and that people see him as a potential candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, McKernan said that these problems have not been resolved in a short time, and even if they are solved, taxi drivers who do not know the owners of the taxi license plates will continue to have problems.
Wanting to strengthen his claim, the journalist also included the statements of Serdar Yılmaz, who was working at a taxi stand in Beyoğlu; “I’ve had this car for five years and have never met the owner. I just pay my daily rent in the center. They’re a total mob. We don’t have social security. If you’re willing to earn very little, anyone can. They don’t do forensics. It’s not a nice job.”
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