İBB gave the name of Behiç Erkin, the founder and first general manager of TCDD, to the largest urban rail system center in Turkey, built in Ümraniye, with the first 2-storey train parking area. Emphasizing that they took over the construction site of the Rail System Campus, named after the late Erkin, at a level of 33 percent and completely stopped, İmamoğlu said, “We quickly dealt with our metro construction sites, which have been standing for months, some for years, and look a bit lonely. There were even some construction sites that were dangerous for the city. As soon as we took office, we started our business by taking their precautions. This process is a historical process. Let's underline that this period, which we have brought to Istanbul, especially about the subways, is a historical process that will be talked about a lot in the future.”
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) kept the name of Behiç Erkin, the founder and first general manager of TCDD, one of the logistical heroes of the War of Independence. Erkin's name was given to the Rail Systems Campus, which will be used as the command center of the 3 metro lines on the Anatolian side of the city. Behiç Erkin Rail System Campus in Ümraniye; IMM President Ekrem İmamoğluwas opened with the participation of Emir Kıvırcık, the grandson of the deceased Erkin, and the painter Teymur Rzayev, who painted Erkin, who was hanged at the entrance of the campus. In the opening ceremony, respectively; İmamoğlu and İBB Deputy Secretary General Pelin Alpkökin made speeches.
“WE HAVE A TOTALLY STOPPED CONSTRUCTION SITE AT 33 PERCENT LEVEL”
Describing the Metropolitan Municipality Metro Istanbul Behiç Erkin Rail Systems Campus as “the place where the trains that will serve on the metro lines on the Anatolian side of the city are collected and maintained”, İmamoğlu said, “In this campus; maintenance workshop, heavy maintenance workshop, open and closed train parking areas, transformer buildings and of course the administrative building. Emphasizing that they took over the campus construction site, which they opened, at a level of 33 percent and completely stopped, İmamoğlu said, “We experienced the same strangeness on the Dudullu - Bostancı line. Because a loan was used from Iller Bank at that time, some of it, almost half of it, was made with a loan of 1,6 billion. That line stopped when that money ran out, because there was no preparation for funding, and because there was no plan to make it from own resources," he said.
“IF IMM CANNOT BUILD THE METRO AT THAT PERIOD, THE REASON IS COMPLETELY SKILLS AND PRIORITY PROBLEM”
Repeating that the metro issue is a vital issue for Istanbul, İmamoğlu said:
“Today, we transport almost 1 million people in one day in Istanbul. What does 9 million people mean? So we carry as many people as the population of London. But we have an underground one-third of the tube line in London. Therefore, the path we have to take, the things that have been neglected and unfinished until today, in fact, all of you should know and understand what a huge goal you have left and set in front of us. Therefore, we quickly got to work. So to speak; We quickly dealt with our subway construction sites, some of which have been standing for months, some for years, and which seem a bit lonely. There were even some construction sites that were dangerous for the city -there were excavations underground, after all. As soon as we took office, we started our business by taking their precautions. This process is a historical process. Let's underline that this period that we have experienced in Istanbul is a historical process that will be talked about a lot in the future, especially about the subways. It should definitely be stated that; If the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality could not produce at that time, could not do business at that time, if the metro could not be made, the reason is purely a skill problem, a priority problem. What subject is it a concentration problem to do? It is a problem of managing a city, a municipality with waste. Now, if things are running smoothly and the wheels are turning, if we are proudly cutting that ribbon while opening many works such as the construction of this important center; The only reason for this is, believe me, to concentrate on your work, to serve Istanbul, to save Istanbul's budget from waste, to make it a fruitful budget, to institutionalize the cooperation process with political mechanisms that take into account the technical people, the words of qualified managers who know their job, and their suggestions. Implementing the concept of governing with morality gives you such results.”
“IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE A CITY THAT BUILDS 10 METROS AT THE SAME TIME, BUT…”
“If you want to serve the public, you carry out projects that serve the public; This is what we do,” said İmamoğlu, “It is important to become the city that makes the most subways in the world. It is important to operate the most metro construction sites in the world at the same time, but it is not the same thing to be the management that has no known source or even the projects of some of them are not clear, and that makes the most metro tenders at the same time. So you do the bidding, but if the site doesn't work, it won't. For example; Like the Mahmutbey – Esenyurt line. In other words, there was no project, no construction site. For example; Göztepe – Ataşehir – Ümraniye line passing under Finans Şehir. It also concerns here. It's a very important line. It is one of the lines we took over at 2-3 percent level. Just as the metro, which was built on the base and proudly described as the Finance City, was not started, which is supposed to pass under a place where only 80 thousand employees are expected to come. We started these," he said.
“WE ARE PROUD OF IMPLEMENTING ISTANBUL'S DURAN PROJECTS ONE BY ONE”
Saying, "We are proud to realize the standing projects of Istanbul one by one by coordinating their finances and managing a fertile budget," İmamoğlu said:
“We generated 1,4 billion euros for Istanbul. We have to; because both medium and long term financing is important in such investments. Unfortunately, there is another shortcoming. Since July 2019, no public institution has given us a single penny loan. A single public institution. This is a painful situation. IMM; It is an institution that has done business even though it cannot get them from public banks and public institutions. To date, we have opened a 29,9 kilometer rail system line. Hopefully, this year, together with Dudullu – Bostancı, we will carry this to a level that will exceed 45 kilometers by including Fulya – Yıldız. This happened in a period of 45 years. What this means, let me tell you, is almost three times the average of the past 3,5-20 years. If Istanbul produces 25-15 kilometers of metro lines a year, it can make up for this shortcoming. By 20, we are walking with the goal of bringing 2025 kilometers of new metro line to Istanbul.”
“WE ARE IN THE EFFOR TO TURN OUR FACE TO OUR PEOPLE BY TELLING OUR BUSINESS”
Emphasizing that Istanbul needs new metro lines, İmamoğlu gave examples of the projects they prepared in this context. Saying, “We are in an effort to turn our faces towards our people, not by preventing them, not by telling these things, but by explaining our job,” İmamoğlu pointed out that they turned their faces to the inspiring special moments and people of recent history. Emphasizing that Behiç Erkin is one of these names, İmamoğlu said, “We will never forget that our beautiful Republic, whose 100th year we are walking with hope and enthusiasm, stands on the efforts of such conscientious figures and true patriots. After the War of Independence, in the struggle for development and enlightenment, the beautiful Republic rises above the efforts of our many heroes, whose names we know and do not know, but each of them has a special place in our hearts. In that respect, we commemorate the unique struggle of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk with respect and gratitude, and we commemorate both his comrades in arms and his valuable companions such as Behiç Erkin with gratitude in the presence of all of you, and we bow before them with respect."
“GIVING A NAME; YOU SHOULD HAND THE SIGN TO BE AN EXAMPLE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS, NOT TO BE ADVISED.”
"Frankly; Saying that when naming names, you should think a thousand times and hang that sign once," said İmamoğlu, "These are not easy jobs. When naming; You should hang the sign not to be useful to someone, but to set an example for future generations. When naming; You should hang those signs, not to save the present, but to build bridges of healthy, historical information to the future. Otherwise, you'll have to take a look, after a few years you'll have to take those signs down. It is possible to see this in the recent pages of our history. In that respect, we have all experienced together that this is a sensitive issue, what a special task we performed when our friends brought this name to us, what a great job we did and what a correct decision we made.”
EARTHQUAKE WARNING: “Let's sit down and talk; WE ARE READY"
In his speech, İmamoğlu also drew attention to the 5.9 magnitude Düzce-centered earthquake that occurred this morning and said:
“There is no today and no tomorrow. 'Sir, there will be an election in 2023; Who will come?' The future is clear.. But the issue is not that, the issue is being able to talk and set that table even today. Earthquake; Let's get the order tomorrow, let's get up to Ankara together. Let's sit down and talk. We are ready. We don't give a fuck about this, we don't hold back. I got up at 4 past 8 in the morning. While following the issue on the end of the phone with my friends, via AKOM; 'Do we have any loss? I wonder if something is going to happen. Believe me, we found the morning with our nervousness. In this regard, our request from you, our request; Please, as the whole public, to be sensitive to this process and not to forget that the solution to this process is in all of us. In other words, if a ministry says 'I will solve it alone'; No, you can't solve it bro. You haven't figured it out yet. If the Metropolitan Municipality says, 'I will solve it alone'; You can't fix it bro. Because it's a big deal. So I'm not talking numbers. Today, there are nearly 150 buildings in Istanbul that need urgent attention. I'm not saying flat; there is a building. These are measured works. We will definitely be prudent in all matters. We will be hopeful. We will not move away from reason and science. We will manage the process with qualified teams. And we will achieve this kind of work together with courage. Nothing can stand in the way of courage and optimism. We will succeed together. We will see very good days together.”
ALPKÖKIN SHARED INFORMATION ABOUT THE CAMPUS
IMM Deputy Secretary General Pelin Alpkökin started her speech by thanking Erkin's grandson Emir Kıvırcık for allowing the use of the name “Behiç Erkin”. Alpkökin shared the following information: “In 2019, a partial workshop and a parking area of only 11 sets were completed on this campus.”
“But Dudullu – like Bostancı, this place also stopped. Together with our Dudullu – Bostancı line, we have given speed and weight to the works here with the resumption of the Dudullu – Bostancı metro in order to open the campus here, the parking areas and the command center we are in today, the heart and mind of Metro Istanbul on the Anatolian side, into service as soon as possible. This is our 3 metro lines; It was created to manage Üsküdar - Ümraniye - Çekmeköy - Sultanbeyli, Ümraniye - Ataşehir - Göztepe and Dudullu - Bostancı lines from a control center and a single point. However, on the Anatolian side, Kadıköy – We have a Sabiha Gökçen Airport line. Kadıköy – With the completion of the Pendik connection of our Sabiha Gökçen line, we want to take the command center of that line here. Therefore, in a very short time, this will be an important command center that manages every part of the Anatolian side. The command center you see above today also has a nice side. The tests of our Dudullu - Bostancı line, which will be ready for our passengers at the end of next month, are also being checked from here today. All tests are done here. Dudullu – Bostancı line is also very busy. Now we are planting our totems. We are completing our input-output structures. An important part of the certification processes of our tests will be done this month, and the remaining two certificates will be made in December. And our line will be ready for passengers at the end of December and will be managed from here.”
After the speeches; Behiç Erkin Rail Systems Campus was officially put into service with the ribbon cut by İmamoğlu, İBB bureaucrats, the late Erkin's grandson Emir Kıvırcık and the painter Teymur Rzayev, who painted Erkin's painting at the entrance of the campus.
Be the first to comment