Eyüp Aksu, who declared open support for Murat Kurum, makes a U-turn! 'We never opposed the number of taxis'

Eyüp Aksu, President of the Istanbul Taxi Drivers' Chamber, who opposed the steps taken by Ekrem İmamoğlu at the IMM during his first term and made headlines with his protests, spoke after the local elections.

During the local election period, Aksu had made headlines again with his words, "Set your taximeters, Murat Kurum is coming."

"A POLITICIAN WE LIKE"

According to the report by Gözde Yel from T24; Aksu, arguing that this sentence could not be interpreted as "support," said, "We did not support anyone, we did not get involved in politics. Murat Kurum told us, 'When I am elected, I will not make any illegal or unlawful regulations.' He entered the hall; what do you say to someone who enters the hall? He served as our minister, he is a politician we like. He gave us his word that he would solve our issues and not upset us."

Aksu stated, "As the Taxi Drivers' Tradesmen Chamber, we have not had, and will not have, a statement like 'let's support this political party, let our tradesmen vote for this party.' We did not provide political guidance, and we will not."

"UKOME HAS NO TIES TO POLITICS"

Aksu emphasized that decisions regarding the taxi issue are under the authority of the Transportation Coordination Center (UKOME) and that the CHP majority in the IMM Assembly would not affect this situation:

"Regardless of which political party holds the IMM Assembly, issues such as increasing the number of taxis are not the subject of the municipal assembly, but the subject of UKOME... Municipal assemblies cannot decide on this. UKOME does not have a political party. UKOME consists of a technical committee appointed by our President and ministry representatives, in accordance with the laws of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. UKOME has no connection or relation to politics or any party."  

"WE HAVE NOT BEEN AGAINST INCREASING THE NUMBER OF TAXIS"

Regarding the question about the possibility of the disagreements he previously had with the IMM administration regarding the increase in the number of taxis recurring, Aksu said, "We have never opposed an increase in the number of taxis. We opposed the proposal that came to us because it was against the law and legal regulations. If a proposal in accordance with the law comes, we do not oppose it, we have not opposed it, and we will not oppose it. The law states that commercial taxis can be tendered and sold to individuals; the municipality cannot operate and run them itself."

When reminded of his previous statement that the number of taxis was sufficient, Aksu explained, "Media outlets cherry-picked. I explain things to journalists, and they publish them differently with malicious intent. I have been using similar expressions since I became the chamber president. The fare tariff should increase, we should switch to technology, the traffic problem should be solved, and the number should increase in accordance with the laws. We are always talking about the same issues."

Regarding his comment on the IMM's approach to the taxi issue in the new term, Aksu said, "I have no foresight at the moment. We will look, we will see."  

News Source: 12punto