District governor’s office rejects Istanbul Municipality’s application for electric vehicles on Prices’ Islands

ISTANBUL

The district governor’s office of the Princes’ Islands (Adalar) has rejected an application from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality which would have allowed electric vehicles to be used on the islands after a ban on horse-drawn carriages.

The Istanbul Electric Tram and Tunnel Company (İETT) applied to the district governor’s office on June 15 for the use of electric vehicles on the Princes' Islands, off Istanbul’s coast.

Horse-drawn carriages were banned as a result of the killing of dozens of horses due to an outbreak of glanders and years-long animal rights activism against what advocates called the ill-treatment of horses.

On June 19 morning, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu visited Büyükada to test the electric vehicles.

However, the district governor’s office announced that testing and using the vehicles were not allowed.

In its response to the application, the district governor’s office said that the necessary documents for the electric vehicles were not found, thus, technical controls were not actualized. The authorities added that the vehicles’ route and the permission requested for their test drives were not “deemed suitable” in accordance with the relevant articles of the Law on Highway Traffic.

The response statement also added that if the municipality applies with the necessary and mandatory documents, then its requests for the vehicles’ usage will be examined.

“In the event that vehicles hit the roads without the relevant documents, administrative fines will be imposed and the vehicles will be disqualified from use, per the relevant articles of Highway Traffic Law,” the statement added.

İmamoğlu also encountered a protest by a group of residents at the pier of Büyükada upon his arrival.

The group, called the “Horses of the Islands Platform,” have reacted to the introduction of the electric vehicles, holding banners and chanting slogans in demand for the horses to be brought back to the islands.