‘Istanbul is our common value’ – Current News Milliyet
GÜLDEN KTAN- President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at the opening ceremony of the Kağıthane-Istanbul Airport metro line, said, “Thanks to this line, it will be possible to reach Istanbul Airport from Kağıthane in 24 minutes. Our metro line will provide free service for one month. This operating budget is yours,” he said.
In addition to Erdoğan, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Şentop, Vice President Fuat Oktay attended the opening ceremony at Kağıthane Station.
AK Party Chairman Binali Yıldırım, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu and former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller also attended.
Stating that he is excited, happy and proud to bring another historical monument to Istanbul, President Erdoğan stated that the 34-kilometer-long 8-station metro line, whose architecture stretches from Kağıthane station to Istanbul Airport, will operate with a daily capacity of 800 thousand passengers. Erdoğan said, “We are integrating our service-leading metro line with the Mahmutbey metro in Kağıthane. In a few months, we will connect this line with Zincirlikuyu metrobus stop,” he said.
Aselsan has developed
Stating that the signaling system of the metro, which will operate with the comfort of high-speed trains, was realized by ASELSAN in cooperation with TÜBİTAK, Erdoğan said, “Turkey has proven the construction and performance of the metro line to the whole world with this project. Likewise, the metro line that will end from Istanbul Airport to Arnavutköy and Halkalı continues at a rapid pace in our project. Son Subway systems that entered the government in the centuries are almost all built by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. We will never forget the efforts of the late Kadir Topbaş to accelerate and expand the metro lines.”
Erdogan, with whom they work day and night to bring Istanbul to the level it deserves in every field, stated that they are closely interested in every rejection of this city, and that they follow every project without living under whose protection.
‘Our common value’
Emphasizing that Istanbul is Turkey’s most valuable treasure, most fertile resource and most dynamic city with its location and opportunities, Erdoğan continued: “This city, which is the common value of the country, cannot be left to the mercy of anyone who has the ability to overcome all kinds of considerations. For this reason, during the years of our governments, we have always placed Istanbul in our important projects. From education to health, from justice to safety, from transportation to agriculture, to diplomacy, we took all this march in culture and arts, in protection.”
“We do not expect much from those who call Kağıthane as Kağıttepe or from those who do not know Istanbul until they run Paris,” said Erdoğan, adding, “They define both Turkey and Istanbul, they do not know. They live like foreign tourists in their own region. But their ignorance does not remove the truth. These tragicomic situations of ours never lead us to complacency,” he said.
‘Public-private partnership’
State Erdogan said, “What does Mr. Kemal say? He says, tell us about these investments you have made without a penny. What are we going to tell? These are public-private partnership investments. We made these investments for a penny from the national budget. We’re not, we’re meeting. This is how we built Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge. This is how we built Osmangazi Bridge. But it will be a long time before you learn about them,” he said.
‘We are determined for Kanal Istanbul’
Stating that fast and easy access to the airport is ensured with the opened metro line, Erdoğan continued: Hopefully, with the Kanal Istanbul Project, we will ventilate our city with a new windpipe, which will ease the burden of the throat and increase the brand value of Istanbul. We must decide to realize this project sooner or later so that we can build the infrastructure already.
one month free
President Erdoğan gave the good news that the metro transportation to Istanbul Airport will be free for 1 month. Later, the delegation accompanying Erdoğan, who got on the metro as the first passenger from Kağıthane, made the first journey.
The metro line, which reaches Istanbul Airport from Gayrettepe, is 37.5 km long and consists of 9 stations. The 34-kilometer section that has been opened will come out of Kağıthane, Eyüpsultan and Arnavutköy districts and will serve 800 thousand passengers a day with 8 stations. The stops on the line are as follows: Gayrettepe (expected to be opened in 4 months) – Kağıthane – Hasdal – Kemerburgaz – Göktürk – İhsaniye – Terminal 2 – Istanbul Airport – Cargo Terminal.