İmamoğlu speaks at AKOM: Important warnings for Istanbul residents for Friday and Saturday

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu issued warnings to citizens regarding the heavy snowfall expected in the city tomorrow.

Noting that he finds the Istanbul Governor's Office's decision to close schools on Friday appropriate, İmamoğlu stated at the Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM), “I appreciate the fact that all our citizens are responding very effectively to all calls made by institutions and organizations and are viewing the process in a spirit of cooperation.

When I look at the traffic density right now, this cooperative work and being in collaboration is a matter that Istanbulites have participated in very effectively, especially over the last 5 years.

The only success in disaster management is possible through the cooperation of society. In this respect, I owe a debt of gratitude to all my fellow Istanbulites,” he said.

“THE FEWER, THE BETTER…”

Emphasizing that all institutions and organizations in Istanbul are engaged in a great struggle, İmamoğlu used the following expressions:

"In light of the information conveyed to us by our expert friends here, in line with the reports they received from meteorology, more effective snowfall is expected to enter Istanbul as of tomorrow morning. The expectation of this heavy snowfall, which will begin early in the morning, will continue to cover Saturday as well. When we have all this perspective, there is only one thing to say: That is, our citizens need to be much more cautious than today, especially regarding going out into traffic, and they need to spend tomorrow much more cautiously.

"UTILIZE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS"

This has another meaning; if you have the opportunity, do not go out into traffic with your vehicle tomorrow as much as possible and utilize public transportation options.

The fewer the number of vehicles, the more safely the measures in the field can be carried out. Moreover, when even one vehicle gets stuck on the road, it can sometimes block an entire axis or traffic flow. In all these aspects, I reiterate our request to our citizens in terms of ensuring that our work can be sustained in a healthy manner.

Especially due to the snowfall expected to increase intensely early tomorrow morning, please, our citizens should not go out with their private vehicles unless they are in a difficult situation, as much as possible. If they are going to go out, they should go out with equipment suitable for snow and winter conditions.

But other than that, we recommend that they do not go out. We recommend that they use public transportation and act in this way."