Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu spoke at the 12th Transport and Communication Council and drew attention to investments and targets in the transport and communication sector. Karaismailoğlu stated that they continue to work without slowing down to ensure efficient, sustainable, smart and integrated mobility that puts accessibility at the center, and said, “We will reveal cooperation opportunities, regional problems and solution proposals in the sector on important issues such as the development of economy and transportation corridors that will provide holistic development and their impact on countries. We will identify opportunities for the future and discuss our cooperation opportunities.”
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu spoke at the opening of the 3th Transport and Communication Council, which will last for 12 days. Noting that panels and sector meetings will be held at the Council with the focus of “Logistics-Mobility-Digitalization” in order to reveal the transportation and communication strategies and solution proposals for the future, Karaismailoğlu said that the heart of the transportation and communication world will beat in Istanbul for 3 days. Emphasizing that the communication and transportation sectors are among the basic pillars of the economy in the global world, Karaismailoğlu continued as follows:
“We live in a highly developed phase of the age of communication and transportation. It is no longer possible for countries to compete in a globalizing world without having a healthy communication and transportation infrastructure. We live in an information age where the progress and innovations of technology accelerate the flow of time. Concepts such as far-near, known-unknown, familiar-foreign have become meaningless, borders have become transparent, and obstacles to mutual interaction have been removed to a large extent.
WE WATCHED HOW NECESSARY DOMESTIC AND NATIONAL APPLICATIONS WERE IN A FEW HOURS OF COMMUNICATION INTERRUPTION
Noting that societies started to demand not only what is offered to them, but also the best in the world in every field, Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu said that it was witnessed once again how necessary domestic and national practices are to the discomfort caused by even a few hours of communication interruption in the society. Karaismailoğlu, who said, “Transparency, freedom, justice, accountability and good governance have now become values valid not only for a privileged part of the world, but for the whole world," said Karaismailoğlu.
He underlined that it is clear that countries will stay behind events and time.
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO GET TECHNOLOGY
Karaismailoğlu said, “It is an indisputable fact that; It is impossible to curb technology. Because what is imagined today is the reality of tomorrow. Technological developments will make tomorrow's world much more transparent than today's and will leave nothing in tight quarters. It is essential for countries to invest in transportation and communication infrastructures within strategies integrated with the requirements of the world and the age. For us, with its geopolitical and geostrategic location at the intersection of three continents, Turkey's transportation and communication strategy, with its regional and global dimensions, is of particular importance. Because, first of all, in order for a geographical area to be called a region in the world, there must be communication and transportation networks that will enable communication and interaction between countries and peoples.
Noting that this has been the case throughout history, Karaismailoğlu said, “For example, it was not possible to talk about the Eurasian Region without the Silk Road or the Spice Road. Thanks to transportation networks, different civilizations developed both commercial and human relations with each other. As it is today, Turkey has been at the intersection of continents, civilizations and ancient transportation corridors both geographically and culturally throughout history. As it is a natural bridge in the east-west corridor between Asia and Europe, it is also in the middle of the north-south corridors stretching from Caucasian countries and Russia to Africa.
Emphasizing that Turkey is at the center of 4 countries with a 1 hour flight, 650 billion 38 million people live, 7 trillion dollars Gross National Product and 45 trillion 67 billion dollars trade volume, Karaismailoğlu said, “Departing from our geostrategic location, we have adopted our transportation and communication strategies globally. It is indispensable for Turkey to redefine it in the light of regional and regional conditions and to keep these strategies up-to-date at all times.”
WE INCREASED THE DIVIDED ROAD NETWORK TO 28 KM
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “Politics means; Drawing attention to the expression “producing works for the country means serving the nation”, Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu said that they have been working with this understanding for 19 years, and the future vision of Turkey, whose face has been enlightened by the investments made in the field of transportation and communication; He stated that they are shaping the world by keeping the pulse of the world, following the technological developments closely and always putting integration at the center. Referring to the developments Turkey has made in the field of transportation and communication since 2002, Karaismailoğlu made the following assessments:
“In the last 19 years, we have largely solved the transportation infrastructure problem of our country, which has been going on for years. We have completed and put into service many giant transportation projects. We increased our existing divided road network of 2003 thousand 6 kilometers before 101 to 28 thousand 340 kilometers. We have increased our highway length to 3 kilometers. We have completed the Istanbul-Izmir Highway including the Osmangazi Bridge, the Northern Marmara Highway including the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the Ankara-Niğde Highway and the Menemen Çandarlı Highways. We established an uninterrupted highway connection from Edirne to Şanlıurfa. Our works for the construction of the Malkara-Canakkale highway, including the Aydın-Denizli Highway, the Nakkaş- Başakşehir Section of the Northern Marmara Highway and the 532 Çanakkale Bridge, continue. 1915 Çanakkale Bridge will symbolize the 1915th anniversary of our Republic with its 2 thousand 23 meters middle span. When completed with this length, it will have the title of 'the world's largest' medium span suspension bridge. Together with the approach viaducts, the total crossing length reaches 100 meters. Our Bridge, between two steel towers, is one of the rare suspension bridges in the world designed as twin decks. The 4 Çanakkale Bridge will reduce the transit time from the Dardanelles Strait, which often takes hours due to ferry waiting time and weather conditions, to 608 minutes. We will inaugurate the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge on March 6, 1915 and put it at the disposal of the whole world.”
Underlining that they will continue to work on new highways, Minister of Transport Adil Karaismailoğlu announced that they plan to build 2023 kilometers of highway with a total of 6 projects until 579 and 2035 thousand 13 kilometers of highway with a total of 3 projects until 767, with the Build-Operate-Transfer model. Karaismailoğlu said that they focused on the construction of divided roads and highways, as well as concentrating on the improvement of the physical and geometric standards of other roads, and also completed a single road of 15 thousand km.
WE INCREASED TUNNEL LENGTH OVER 30 TIMES
Noting that they crossed the impenetrable mountains with tunnels, valleys with bridges and viaducts, Karaismailoğlu underlined that they increased the total tunnel length from 50 kilometers to 30 kilometers by increasing it over 631 times. Stating that they aim to serve 2023 kilometers until 720 and 2035 kilometers until 50 in tunnel construction, Karaismailoğlu said, “While we are building our roads, we continue to work to expand smart transportation systems. We strictly follow the National Intelligent Transportation Systems Strategy Document and 2020-2023 Action Plan implemented by our Ministry in order to save fuel, create alternatives that cause less harm to the environment, and establish economic vitality and logistics mobility. Although vehicle mobility has increased by 170 percent with our investments in highways, there has been a decrease of up to 80 percent in traffic accidents. In other words, thanks to these investments, we have saved thousands of lives every year.”
OVER 58 MILLION PASSENGER TRAVEL WITH YHT
Pointing out that Turkey, located in the Middle Corridor of the Iron Silk Road stretching from Asia to Europe, from China to London, also has a great strategic importance in international freight and passenger transportation, Karaismailolog said that they started a reform process in the railways based on this reality. Emphasizing that they had renewed all of the railways that were untouched until 2003, Karaismailoğlu said, “We built the High Speed Train lines, the dream of our nation for half a century. We brought Ankara-Eskişehir-Istanbul-Konya high-speed train lines to our country. We have increased the length of the railway to 12 kilometers within the scope of our goals to re-knit our country with iron nets. To date, over 803 million passengers have traveled by High Speed Trains. We did not leave our High Speed Train works here. We are continuing our work intensively to complete the construction of the Ankara-Sivas and Konya-Karaman High Speed Railway line, which we have come to an end. In addition, our work continues rapidly on the Ankara-İzmir, Ankara-Bursa, Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep, Karaman-Ulukışla routes. Besides these studies; We have increased our signaled line length by 58 percent and our electrified line length by 172 percent," he said.
1 MILLION 290 THOUSANDS OF LOADS MOVED ON THE BAKU-TIFLIS-KARS LINE
Expressing that they connected two continents under the sea with Marmaray, one of the most important transportation projects in the world, Karaismailoğlu stated that they opened the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway line and provided an uninterrupted railway connection from Asia to Europe. Underlining that this line has become the most strategic connection point of the middle corridor stretching from Beijing to London and the Iron Silk Road stretching from Kazakhstan to Turkey and has started a new era in the field of rail freight transportation, Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu said, “Baku-Tbilisi- Kars Railway line; It has reduced the freight transport time between China and Turkey from 1 month to 12 days, and with the integration of Marmaray into this line, the time between Far Asia and Western Europe has been reduced to 18 days. It has created a new and very important alternative for the global trade networks between Asia and Europe. On the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line, a total of 133 trains, 20 wagons and 819 million 1 thousand tons of cargo have been transported so far.
185 KM LENGTH RAIL SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES
Karaismailoğlu, who noted that they also made serious investments in urban rail systems together with the international and national railway business, emphasized that a total of 12 kilometers of urban rail system lines are operated in 811,4 different cities throughout Turkey. Stating that 312,2 kilometers of these lines were built by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Karaismailoğlu stated that the construction of 7 lines and approximately 14 kilometers of rail system in 185 different cities, including Istanbul, Bursa, Ankara, Kocaeli, Konya, Kayseri and Gaziantep, continues.
Karaismailoğlu said, "We have crowned all of our achievements in the railway transportation network with the domestic and national railway industry that developed in the same period," said Karaismailoğlu, adding that they have achieved a new momentum and synergy in Turkey's rail system production processes by combining three important companies, where different parts of rail system vehicles are made, under the roof of TÜRASAŞ. expressed. Explaining that they have made TÜRASAŞ the largest rail system vehicle manufacturer in the Middle East, Karaismailoğlu said, “We have completed the test processes of the National Electric Train set with a speed of 160 kilometers per hour. In 2022, we will start the mass production of the national electric locomotive.
We will come to the prototype production stage by completing the design studies of the National High Speed Train, which has a speed of 225 kilometers per hour. With these projects, we will have reached an important stage for our country in the production of rail system vehicles, including metro, suburban and tram design and production.”
OVER 114 BILLION TL INVESTED IN THE AVIATION SECTOR
Pointing out that there has been an axis shift in air transportation activities in recent years, Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu made the following assessments:
“Due to global population movements and trade balances, air transport activities are rapidly shifting from west to east today. Turkey, with its key geographical position in the middle of three continents, is on the flight routes between developed and emerging markets. Taking these into account, we have become one of the fastest developing countries in the world with our air transportation policies and activities since 2003. Between 2003 and 2021, we made more than 114 billion TL in aviation investments. In this way; Today, we have increased our domestic flights to 26 destinations to 56 destinations.
While we were flying to 2003 destinations from 50 countries in 60, we have reached 127 destinations in 329 countries today. We said that there will be no place in the world that we cannot reach, and thankfully we have achieved this goal to a large extent. We will further strengthen our airline transportation network with Çukurova, Tokat, Rize-Artvin, Bayburt-Gümüşhane and Yozgat airports under construction. Today, our country, especially Istanbul, is one of the largest global transit centers in the world. Istanbul Airport, which was put into service on October 29, 2018, has carried our country to the top in global aviation by making Turkey an international transfer center with its huge capacity. Since the first day it entered service, it has hosted over 100 million passengers. According to the statistics of the first 2021 months of 8; Istanbul Airport, which serves approximately 21 million passengers, ranks first in the list of the busiest airports in Europe. In addition, Istanbul Airport was ranked 10nd among the "Top 2 Airports in the World". Having such a base that will serve as an activity center for ambitious airline companies on a global scale is a very, very important element. In this context, Istanbul Airport has been a very appropriate step for the rising value of the airline and our representative in the skies, Turkish Airlines, to become even stronger. Turkish Airlines, one of the largest airline companies in the world, is now taking more confident steps into the future with Istanbul Airport, one of the largest airports in the world.
WE HAVE 5B AND 6A SATELLITES BELOW
Karaismailoğlu said, "We are achieving great success in space aviation by keeping the bar even higher, based on the promise that the future is in the skies," and added that they have built multi-purpose observation and low orbit satellites, especially communication satellites, in order for Turkey to have a say in space. Reminding that they launched the communication satellite Türksat 5A into its orbit on 8 January and put it into service in June, Karaismailoğlu stated that television and data communication services are provided in a wide geography spanning 3 continents. Karaismailoğlu said, “Now we have TÜRKSAT 5B and 6A satellites. The design and production stages of Türksat 5B were successfully completed. The assembly, integration and tests of Türksat 6A, our National Communication Satellite, continue at the Space Systems Integration and Test Center in Ankara. We are planning to complete the production and testing process of the satellite at the end of 2022 and launch it in the first quarter of 2023. When we realize this, we will be among the 10 countries that can produce communication satellites.”
SHARE OF SEA WAY INCREASED 36 PERCENT
Emphasizing that approximately 90 percent of the world trade is done by sea, and that maritime is indispensable for the world, Karaismailoğlu said that maritime transportation with its low cost and efficiency; He also stated that it is indispensable for sustainable economic development and prosperity. Emphasizing that they have also made revolutionary developments in the field of maritime, Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu said, “The economic share of maritime transport in the total foreign trade of our country increased from 2003 billion dollars in 57 to 2020 billion dollars in 216. In the January-July period of 2021, the share of sea routes increased by 36 percent compared to the same period of the previous year and reached 158 billion dollars. Filyos Port, which started its operations in the Black Sea on June 4, 2021, is the new address for large-tonnage ships with an annual container handling capacity of 25 million tons. Russia is an important transit hub for the combined transport chain that will result from potential traffic between the Balkans and Middle East countries. We also started the construction of Rize Iyidere Logistics Port. With an annual capacity of 3 million tons of general cargo, 8 million tons of bulk cargo, 100 thousand TEU containers and 100 thousand vehicles ro-ro, we are realizing a huge investment on the Black Sea coasts where large-tonnage ships can dock. Together with these ports, we are highlighting the "Marine Country" identity of our country, which is surrounded by seas on three sides, with the ongoing expansion works at the Çandarlı Port, which is under construction in the Aegean Sea, and the Mersin International Port in the Mediterranean. The number of our shipyards, which was 2002 in 37, increased to 84, our annual production capacity increased from 550 thousand deadweight tons to 4,65 million deadweight tons, and our domestic rate reached 60 percent. Our country, which is the world's leading yacht manufacturer, ranks 2020rd in the world in terms of the number of orders in the mega yacht project of 3.
WE OPENED THE DOOR TO A NEW ERA IN MARITIME WITH KANAL ISTANBUL
Emphasizing that they are opening the door to a new era in the transportation sector and maritime field with Kanal Istanbul, which will bring a new breath to the world maritime transportation, Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu said, “This project is in line with the technological and economic developments in the world and in our country, changing economic trends and the increasing needs of our country in transportation infrastructures. It is an emerging vision project. We started our project by laying the foundation of the Sazlıdere Bridge, the first transportation bridge within the scope of Kanal Istanbul. Again with the other transportation pass; Halkalı- Within the scope of Kapikule new railway construction HalkalıWe started the construction of the railway line between Ispartakule. When the waterway projects in the world are examined, there is no other waterway that passes through the dense population like the Bosphorus. The Bosphorus, where hundreds of thousands of residents live on both sides, is a place of commerce, life and transit for millions of Istanbulites during the day. Due to the risks posed by ship traffic, the Bosphorus becomes more dangerous every year. The annual number of ship crossings, which was 100-3 thousand 4 years ago, has reached 45 thousand today. In addition, thousands of inner-city ship traffic is underway. The average waiting time in the Bosphorus is approximately 14,5 hours for each ship. The waiting period can sometimes take 3-4 days or even a week depending on the ship traffic and weather conditions and sometimes an accident or malfunction. In this context, planning an alternative transit corridor to the Bosphorus has become mandatory and the Kanal Istanbul Project has been implemented.”
MOBILE INTERNET USE INCREASED 31%
Emphasizing that the development of the communication and information sector has gained great momentum since 2003, as in every mode of transportation, Karaismailoğlu said that the growth rate of the information sector, which was 2020 percent in 16, reached 2021 percent in the first half of 19. Expressing that the fiber line length has exceeded 445 thousand kilometers, Karaismailoğlu emphasized that the number of broadband subscribers, which was 20 thousand, reached 86 million. Emphasizing that the subscriber density is 21 percent in fixed and 82 percent in mobile, Karaismailoğlu said:
“The number of mobile subscribers reached 85 million and 93 percent of the subscribers started using 4.5G service. The average tariff fee of our mobile operators, which was 10 cents per minute 8,6 years ago, has decreased to 1,3 cents today. The amount of internet usage increased by 39 percent in fixed and 31 percent in mobile on an annual basis compared to the same period of the previous year. Our goal in our IT field is very clear. We want to be a country that guides, not follows technological developments. Especially with 5G technologies, we will increase our domestic and national rates in the sector much higher. We have developed the "End-to-End Domestic and National 5G Communication Network Project" in order to meet the hardware and software needs with domestic and national opportunities on the way to 5G. We contribute to our country's exports and employment by producing hardware and software products, most of which are imported, with our own means.”
URBAN MOBILITY INDEX WILL BE CREATED
All these transportation and communication investments are now parallel to the developments in information technologies in recent years; Karaismailoğlu, who stated that they carried out their activities with a focus on mobility, logistics and digitalization in a way to ensure human, load and data mobility, said, “With our widespread Intelligent transportation systems, we reduce travel times, increase traffic safety, use existing road capacities more effectively and efficiently, increase mobility, that is, increase energy efficiency. We aim to contribute to the economy of our country by increasing its efficiency, and to reduce the damage to the environment and emissions. Again, we continue our work without slowing down to ensure efficient, sustainable, smart and integrated mobility that puts accessibility at the center. With the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and Action Plan, strategies and policies will be developed to adapt transportation systems to current and future needs, within the framework of our Ministry's vision of mobility, logistics and digitalization.
Within the scope of this study, an urban mobility index will be created in order to measure the current performance of urban mobility on the basis of all stakeholders and to guide future investments. The effect of future investments on unit mobility index and national mobility index will be determined. Thus, we aim to increase the mobility index at the national level and to allocate resources more efficiently by directing transportation investments more effectively.”
OUR GOAL IS TO BRING EFFECTIVE TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM TO OUR COUNTRY FOR EVERYONE
Emphasizing that they have prepared the "Accessible Transportation Strategy and Action Plan", which facilitates the daily lives of individuals with reduced mobility, within the framework of the understanding that accessibility to transportation services is a right and in line with the vision of "creating a transportation network that eliminates differences at every step", Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu said, He noted that they have created an accessible transportation system for everyone, which reinforces their participation in life, increases their quality of life. Karaismailoğlu said, “Our goal is to build a transportation infrastructure that respects ethical values, is based on scientific foundations, is sensitive to people, the environment and history, adopts the principles of transparency, participation and sharing, does not ignore regional and global integration while appealing to the local base, and provides high quality, uninterrupted, comfortable transportation. To bring an effective transportation and communication system for everyone to our country as the pioneer of equal, balanced and sustainable development moves that offer a service perspective, adorned with innovative values.
12. Transport and Communications Council and policies and strategies that will help Turkey reach these goals; Underlining that it will be determined together, Karaismailoğlu concluded his words as follows:
“We will reveal cooperation opportunities, regional problems and solution proposals in the sector on important issues such as mega transportation projects that can change the world, improvement of transportation in the post-Kovid-19 world, flexibility and new standards of global supply chains, the development of economy and transportation corridors that will provide holistic development, and its impact on countries. We will identify opportunities for the future and discuss our cooperation opportunities.”
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