Pianist Anjelika Akbar denounces scammer taxi driver in Istanbul
ISTANBUL
World-famous composer and pianist Anjelika Akbar’s complaint about a taxi driver who tried to overcharge her has stirred a debate on social media.
“I wanted to take a taxi near the Pera Museum. I asked him to drop me to Harbiye. The taxi driver said, ‘Harbiye 20 euros,’ thinking I was a foreigner. When I said, ‘What are you saying? It is a very close distance’ in Turkish, he speeded away with embarrassment! Do not do this, it creates a very bad image for tourists,” she wrote on her Twitter account on Dec. 24.
“By the way, I took another taxi from the same point and the taximeter showed 15 Turkish Liras. It is far less than 20 euros,” she added in another post.
However, some taxi drivers took to Twitter to respond to her claim.
“When you share the matter without taking down the plate numbers, you put thousands of fellows doing their jobs properly like me under suspicion,” a Twitter user, Atakan İnce, said.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Twitter account for complaints also joined the debate, saying that all necessary actions would be taken if the identity of the taxi driver is determined.
After tens of Twitter salvos, the Kazakhstan-born composer put an end to the discussions on Dec. 25 saying: “Friends, the matter is not about taxis or Uber. It is about humanity and kindness. I have seen many kind and rude people among both taxi and Uber drivers. Everything becomes more beautiful or ugly by the human factor. People doing their jobs properly are of high importance in every profession. With love…”
