No green light to Uber, says Istanbul mayor

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Mayor Mevlüt Uysal has denied recent reports that popular ridesharing app Uber could freely operate in Turkey’s largest city if its drivers pick up a touristic transport license.

“We have not given a green light to Uber by adopting a new decision about the touristic transport license,” Uysal told reporters in Istanbul on June 13.

After a series of violent attacks by taxi drivers on Uber drivers, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had intervened on June 1, heralding the end of Uber in Turkey by saying “that business is now over. There is no such thing anymore.”

Prime Minister Binalı Yıldırım also said the Uber dispute “is finished” and it is the government’s duty to remove the ride-sharing app’s network.

However, Istanbul’s Transport Coordination Center (UKOME) confused some by amending its regulation regarding touristic transportation, abolishing the requirement that a tourism company can carry seven people at most and must notify the authorities 12 hours before the trip.

“The latest step was the result of a legitimate objection from tourism companies. We will keep cancelling touristic transport licenses if they are found being used in the Uber business. We will not allow it,” Mayor Uysal said on June 13.