Tunç Soyer voices grievances against his party, the CHP

The İzmir Metropolitan Municipality has officially launched the Narlıdere Metro, which will connect Bornova Evka-3 to Narlıdere, with a ceremony.

The line, which will be an extension of the existing route starting from Evka-3 and ending at Fahrettin Altay, will include the following stations in order: Balçova, Çağdaş, Dokuz Eylül University Hospital, Güzel Sanatlar, Narlıdere, Şehitlik, and Kaymakamlık.

With the commissioning of the newly opened line, a total of 27 kilometers of uninterrupted rail transport service will be provided between the Bornova district in the north of İzmir and the Narlıdere district in the south.

A passenger boarding from Bornova will reach the other end in 45 minutes. The road distance between the two ends is approximately 47 kilometers. The Narlıdere Metro is projected to carry an average of 170 thousand passengers daily.

"WE HAVE COMPLETED 87 PERCENT OF OUR PROJECTS"

Speaking at the Narlıdere Metro opening ceremony, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer, who was not nominated for the new term, said, “Five years ago, in our election manifesto, I promised to carry out 165 projects. I am very proud to be the only mayor who has completed these projects at a rate of 87 percent, added 15 more projects on top of them, and achieved this rate.

In 5 years, we solved İzmir's 50-year-old chronic problems and secured its next 50 years. We crowned the 100th anniversary of our Republic with the September 9 celebrations, which we etched into history, and the Second Century Economics Congress.

With the reputation we have in the international arena and the 'İzmir stance,' we became the municipality that brought in the most financing from international financial institutions in 5 years. We either found a way or made one. We have always been pioneers with many colors, many voices, and many breaths,” he said.

"WE MADE 952 MILLION EUROS OF RAIL SYSTEM INVESTMENT"

Stating that they are the municipality that has allocated the largest share of its budget to rail systems in Turkey over the last 5 years, Mayor Soyer said, “During my 5-year term alone, we made 952 million Euros of rail system investment in İzmir; that is 31 billion liras at today's rates. Do you know how much rail system investment the central government deemed worthy of İzmir in these 5 years? Only, but only 3 thousand liras. We said, 'That metro will come to Buca.'

We are bringing it. On January 9, we lowered the tunnel boring machines, called 'giant moles,' into the ground in Buca. The construction of our Buca Metro, which is the largest rail system project in İzmir's history and will carry 400 thousand passengers a day, is continuing at full speed.

Its financing is ready in foreign currency, there are no obstacles left in front of its completion, but of course, we will follow up on it,” he stated.

Soyer added the following to his words:

“Today, we are launching our Narlıdere Metro, which will carry 170 thousand İzmir residents daily, with great enthusiasm. Our metro will provide completely free service until April 15. I am proud to have completed this line, which we took over from the previous term at a 12 percent completion level, during my tenure. In every drop, every meter, and every step of this giant rail system investment, there is the sweat of the people, not the games of the palace.

There is no theft in the foundation of the Narlıdere Metro; there is honesty and courage. At the core of our investments, there is no nepotism or rent-seeking; there is unity and solidarity. May this newest metro of İzmir, which came to life with an investment of 287 million Euros, be a gift to the 100th anniversary of our Republic.”

Emphasizing that they are the municipality that has added the most new buses to its fleet in Turkey in the last five years, Tunç Soyer said, “We bought 692 new buses. We implemented the İZTAŞIT project for the first time in Turkey. We provided our citizens in the most remote points of İzmir with the most comfortable transportation. With this cooperative-based project, we brought minibus operators under one roof and became an example for Turkey.

As soon as I took office, we established the Earthquake Department. We are the only municipality that provided 330 million liras for rent support to 33 thousand 98 families with the 'One Rent One Home' campaign, first in the İzmir earthquake and then in the February 6 earthquake. Thanks to our kindness movement, we established container cities in 4 cities in the earthquake zone and a field hospital in Hatay,” he said.

Stating that “We added 303 kilometers of new lines to the 642 kilometers of rainwater lines built in the last 50 years in just one term,” Mayor Tunç Soyer expressed the following:

“We said, 'We will solve the flooding.' By building as many channels as half of the total rainwater lines built in the history of İzmir in 5 years, we implemented our Sponge City Project, which is a first in Turkey. We started harvesting rainwater and using it in agriculture, in our homes, and in our gardens. Again, for the first time in Turkey, we distributed water tankers to forest villages and established special detachments. We prevented hundreds of fires before they could grow.”

TUNÇ SOYER VOICED GRIEVANCES AGAINST HIS PARTY, THE CHP

Expressing his grievances against his party in his speech at the ceremony, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer said, "I express my grievances here to those who deemed a 'thank you' too much for the person who received the highest organizational support with 508 votes out of 522 delegates in the closed ballot at the İzmir CHP Provincial Congress, who was brought to the highest office internationally with his successes, who came out first in the polls, and for all this effort and dozens of revolutionary works."

Touching on his party's change movement, Soyer said, "Unfortunately, today we see with sadness that the slogan of change has been emptied, diverted from its target, and hopes have faded. However, if you are fighting against a party-state, or if a party is abusing the power it received from the ballot box to seize the state, that hope is needed very much, and the only true subject of that hope must be the people," he stated.