Uber is “over” in Turkey, Erdogan tells guests at Istanbul dinner

Uber is “over” in Turkey, Erdogan tells guests at Istanbul dinner
/ Elekes Andor.
By bne IntelliNews June 4, 2018

The business of ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. is “over” in Turkey, the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly said on June 1.

“There is no such thing anymore. We have our own cab system,” Erdogan said at a Ramadan dinner in Istanbul, according to Bloomberg. “They say Europe has it, who cares? We will decide on this ourselves. Our interior ministry gave the orders. Traffic police will tackle this situation and do what is necessary.”

State-run Anadolu News Agency reported taxi drivers in Istanbul as welcoming the president’s remarks on June 2 with around 100 yellow cabs driving in a convoy to Erdogan’s house in Kisikli to show their support.

Website and mobile app-based Uber has been in legal and physical battles with Turkish cab drivers and the populist Erdogan, on the election trail for snap polls on June 24, will hope his opposition to San Francisco-based Uber will go down well with voters. Whether or not officials will follow through and actually bar Uber from Istanbul’s taxi market—in which more than 18,000 local yellow cabs operate for a population of 17mn—remains to be seen. Uber runs its cabs on so-called D-2 licences which are far cheaper than taxi plates, but officials claim this is against regulations.

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