IMM President and Nation Alliance's Vice President candidate Ekrem İmamoğlumade statements during the test drive of the Çekmeköy-Sancaktepe-Sultanbeyli Metro, which will pass through 3 districts, with 8 stations and a length of 10,9 kilometers. Sharing the information that the line, which was tendered in 2017 and stopped in 2018, was delivered with 4 percent progress, and that they achieved 76 percent progress, İmamoğlu drew attention to the fact that the wing of power often uttered the phrase “We started it” for many projects.
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor and Nation Alliance's Vice President candidate Ekrem İmamoğluparticipated in the test drive of the Çekmeköy-Sancaktepe-Sultanbeyli Metro, which will pass through 3 districts, with 8 stations and a length of 10,9 kilometers. During the test drive, İmamoğlu was informed by IMM Deputy Secretary General and Pelin Alpkökin and IMM Rail System Department Head Ceyhun Avşar. Alpkökin said, “This is one of the lines we take with a 4 percent stop” and shared the following information with İmamoğlu:
ALPKÖKİN AND AVŞAR INFORMED İMAMOĞLU
“2017 tender; It stopped at the end of 2018. The second project we credited. We provided financing for this project with Eurobonds of 110 million Euros and 60 million Euros from Deutsche Bank. Then we quickly started our work on this line. It is 10,9 kilometers and consists of 8 stations. The continuation of Üsküdar-Çekmeköy. Very important. Sultanbeyli, Sancaktepe; Our line goes here. The credit we found in the first place for this line is now fully utilized. The second stage loan was also used. As the third stage loan, we will use a financial instrument that has never been made in municipalities in Turkey. Asian Investment Bank. It comes from China. They will be the guarantors. European banks will also give us a loan of 125 million Euros with the lowest interest. Again, the approval process at the Ministry of Treasury took about 11-12 months. We applied in October 2021, but received it at the end of December 2022. But in the meantime, we never stopped our line. Our Rail System Department Head and his team quickly made a study on 'How can we put it into operation partially at the beginning of 2024'. Our goal is to commission 2024 stations by March 5. We are working hard for this. Three days ago, we made the departure of our first train between the Majlis - Sarıgazi stations. We have no problems. After that, our work at 3 stations and on the line continues simultaneously. At the same time, we are trying to shorten the signaling process, which will take 7-7,5 months, to shorter times and open 5 stations on this line at the beginning of 2024.”
THE QUESTION FROM İMAMOĞLU “HOW MUCH TIME IS THERE FOR SULTANBEYLİ”
Alpkökin, to İmamoğlu's question "How much time do we have before us for Sultanbeyli", said, "We have a target to make such a train movement in Sultanbeyli again on the same date. At the end of 2024, we will complete the tests and open them until Sultanbeyli. Of course, there is another dimension to this as well. We have trains. We brought our 25 sets of six trains here, again with a loan of approximately 4 million Euros. They are also in our Behiç Erkin warehouse in Dudullu. In other words, we brought not only our line, but also our vehicles with both finance and manufacture. These vehicles will be enough for us until Sultanbeyli. In the medium term, we aim to increase the number of vehicles in this line as well, Chairman," he replied.
“WE DELIVERED 4 PERCENT COMPLETED; WE BRING IT TO THE FINISHING POINT”
Imamoglu, who received information about the line from his colleagues, made statements to the members of the press on the subway car in motion. "Hopefully, in about 9-10 months, one of our fellow citizens from Samandıra will be able to come to Üsküdar in 40-45 minutes," said İmamoğlu, and used the following expressions:
“Because there is a line from Çekmeköy to Üsküdar as well. This line is important. The thing to note here is that it is a place that we took over in July 4, with 2019 percent completed. It is a place that takes action with the financing we found after our work. So think of it this way: a place that started with a 2 percent in 4 years, no plan, no program, a model that unfortunately wasn't financed. It's 3 percent in 76 years. This means that if you're getting into such a big business, the project, plan, contractor, vehicle planning, everything needs to run smoothly, so to speak. As a result of the work, when we took over the task, unfortunately, the job was tendered, but a contractor who did not know what to do… Because if the financing is not clear, you cannot determine the journey. Now this is all set in stages and the journey is nearing completion. We are proud of that.”
“THE TEST DRIVE WE DID, WHICH IS THE SUMMARY OF AN UNDERSTANDING AIMING TO FINISH WORK”
Saying, "This means that," İmamoğlu said, "4-4,5 and a half years is an important time period for such a line. In fact, we will be a management that has completed 4 percent in 4,5-96 years. I am enjoying listening to my friends right now. On the rail systems side, our Head of Department, Deputy Secretary General; On the finance side, our Head of Department, Deputy Secretary General and Secretary General are actually the summary of an understanding that aims to manage the process in coordination with the team, with an understanding with the contractor, to manage the process in a qualified manner, to complete the work in the process without looking back, and to do business in the test drive we are doing now. . Reminding the test drive on the Eminönü-Alibeyköy line, which was intended to be done during the previous IMM administration, İmamoğlu said, “There is a question of running a tram. There is not even a tram. In other words, they brought a tram from another place and carried a tram by pushing it at 50-100 meters. This is not so. This is a real test drive. And we are really talking about a job that we will bring together with our people in January and February of 2024. This is the way of doing business. This is exactly what we are talking about,” he said.
“WE WANT TO EXPAND THE ORDER WE HAVE FOUND IN ISTANBUL TO WHOLE TURKEY”
“This is not a party's project; Imamoğlu said, “This is the project of the nation, the project of the state. Continuity is essential in the state. But we wish and want that when we start and hand over a business in the future, we know how to hand over completely. We hope that it will be handed over completely and that the next one will continue it. Continuity is key. Right now, we are in a period in our country where the links of this chain are broken, troubled and malfunctioning. We intend to spread this order, which we have established in Istanbul, throughout Turkey. This is the summary of the way of doing business, the way of holding business”. Pointing out that the ruling wing frequently utters the phrase "We started it" for many projects, İmamoğlu said:
“WE WILL COMPLETE A VERY USEFUL JOB FOR OUR NATION”
“Initiating is not a skill; dexterity to do the job, to finish it, to put it into service. Our dexterity in this matter continues. I sincerely thank my teammates, everyone who does not appear here in the background, the workers and our contractor. We hope that we will have completed a very beneficial and beneficial work for our nation. We, at the same time, on this line and on other lines, which revenues can we provide to our city at a higher level, how can we bring the rent of the stations there and formed to the city again, how can we turn the spatial designs there into commercial gains and add them to our institution or Istanbul? We are carrying out a very serious work that we can bring as a profit. This is something that has been neglected throughout the rail systems in Istanbul. While someone was winning, the institution watched. Now we say, 'No; If this is an investment, if it is coming - and we are planning the future more strongly in this sense - let our institution, IMM and our people get the first rent in that region. In this context, we are taking a proud test drive. It will be really important. Hopefully, we will all get on our train on a January-February axis of 2024, and get off at Samandıra. At the same time, we will be doing the test drive of the next part to Sultanbeyli. Hopefully, we will finish that remaining part before the end of the year.”
“OUR INTENTION IS NOT REALLY TO BEAT THE VINEGAR, TO EAT GRAPES”
“There is something critical here. In October 2020, a decision comes out of the Parliament. And it's unanimous. You are sending this to the Treasury. You say; 'Add this to your debt log.' You know nothing else? So there is no grace. So he's just signing something. And it is added to the debt log. It is added to the country's debt register. Why would you wait a year? Rica, gratitude, here's what I don't know. Or something like this? He comes before the minister and signs it. This is Istanbul. People talk to each other. People meet each other. A country where talking, meeting and meeting has now turned into a wall of fear has been created. The minister of this country cannot speak. The governor of this country cannot speak. The governor of this country cannot speak. These jobs, these investments are not jobs to wait. However, we did. However, we finished. We acted with that character, with the understanding of completing the work with persistence, stubbornness, and humility. We have no other intentions. In this respect, our intention is not really to beat the vineyard, but to eat grapes. This country needs it. Every corner needs it; east to west, south to north. Istanbul has the most. Just think, if these obstacles were not there, if people could sit at qualified tables and talk, this country's own human resources would be self-sufficient. Its production is self-sufficient. The summary of all this verse I have said; just the test drive we're doing right now. This is our intention. It is the epitome of intent.”
“WE ARE TRYING TO SOLVE THE DIFFICULT MOMENTS AND CONDITIONS OF PROBLEMS”
Emphasizing that the Ataşehir – Ümraniye metro line is also very important for Istanbul, İmamoğlu said, “Why? Because you say, 'We have opened a Finance City'. When we took the job, we took over a Finance City metro that was almost never started. It has no finances and is hardly ever started. You spend billions, tens of billions of liras above. You are erecting buildings, so to speak. But there is nothing about the project. We also took over contractors who were in trouble, etc. Now my friends have shaped the final stage. Hopefully, we will speed it up and bring it to Istanbulites in the fastest way possible. While we are experiencing all these disruptions, we are also trying to solve the troubled moments and states of such lines -which are big projects, projects to be solved with long-term financing. We experienced the same thing in Dudullu – Bostancı, we experienced the same thing here, in Göztepe as well. We managed the process by making significant contributions from our self-financing. At the same time, we have conducted it by reconciling with the contractors and establishing trust in each other. In this respect, this is a very important management character. Göztepe - Ataşehir - Ümraniye line is also an important line for Finans City, where tens of thousands of people will work. We will continue there very quickly and at full throttle.”
“A FULL STUFF”
Reminding that, "When Mr. President opened the connection to Sabiha Gökçen, he said, 'He takes care of the project we are doing,'" İmamoğlu concluded his statement with the following words:
“We didn't say anything like that. We took over the project, we just thanked. But the worst thing is: They get the money for that line from us by deducting it from our budget in almost 1,5-2 years. Let them find us 1,5-2 years of money from somewhere, we will finish all the metros of Istanbul in 2 years. It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a sin. The other lines, which they normally collect in 20-25 years, are transferred to the head of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Ekrem İmamoğlu After they arrive, they change. They come up with a decree that will take over the money of the projects they have handed over to us in 20-24 months. It's complete bullshit. I mean, it's about making us hard. Not such a bad mind. Bad mind, bad intention. I feel sad when I read the nonsense of those ministers on television and in the newspapers. There are also those who have served in IMM in the past or in other institutions. Now they are doing politics through the ministry. They can't do it either. They smear it on their faces. I'm guessing that people with a political background in the AK Party are also victims of such ministers coming into politics from the front row and making their own party miserable. Reputable words come from reputable deeds. We have reputable businesses. Our word is also added after it. We will continue this series. Let our people continue to watch us."