More than 3,000 buses in Istanbul to stop service

Göksel Ovacık, President of the Istanbul Private Public Bus Tradesmen Chamber, said in a statement, "As you know, we have spent the 4th month without receiving payment. We were given a commitment. It was said that 500 million would be paid on the 15th of the month. However, when we reached May 15, this amount was not paid."

3,041 BUSES IN ISTANBUL WILL STOP SERVICE

Pointing out that they are struggling to pay staff salaries, Ovacık said, "In line with the meetings held, they informed us that such an amount could not be paid. Both our tradesmen and we ourselves are saying that this business cannot continue with the money we received in April and that the situation has become unbearable. We told our colleagues that we needed to draw up a roadmap. We took everyone's opinion. Unfortunately, we have decided that we cannot carry out this work under these conditions. As of Thursday, we will unfortunately not be able to go to work because our vehicles cannot get fuel and we cannot pay our staff's salaries."

"THE MUNICIPALITY'S ATTITUDE TOWARD US WILL DETERMINE OUR PATH"

Ovacık stated, "It will involve 3,041 vehicles. We want to say in advance that we do not want the people of Istanbul to be victimized. But the point we have reached, the point we have been brought to, is not our fault. Due to these payments not being made, we will inevitably be forced out of rotation. We will evaluate the process at the point where we receive a payment from the municipality. It is a very important situation. The attitude the municipality will show us will determine our path. We must manage this process correctly."