On the 150th day of the '150 Projects in 100 Days' marathon, IMM realized its 101st opening by putting the Rumelihisarı-Aşiyan Funicular Line into service. CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who opened the line, said, “Despite all these obstacles, Ekrem President is a person who overcomes all obstacles with reason, knowledge and experience and serves the people of Istanbul. In the presence of all of you, I heartily congratulate the President," he said. Explaining the story of why the 800-meter line took 5 years to be built, IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu “What happened during the construction of the line is like a striking summary of the metro works carried out in Istanbul for the previous 25 years. The tender for this line was made in March 2017. Work started in June 2017. According to the contract, this 800-meter line should have been finished in 2019. But at the beginning of 2019, before we took office, the construction of the line was completely stopped. Because the tender was made without planning the financing. In addition, there were some important mistakes in the tender process. His field progress was only 26 percent and 50 percent of his budget had been spent. As soon as we took office, we immediately made the equity budget planning. And thankfully, we have arrived so far. All these works, all these projects are done with your money, that is, with the money of every citizen living in this city. Projects have only one owner: Folks. Temporary managers, whether elected or appointed, cannot own projects. These projects are not the property of anyone's father," he said.
On the 150th day of the "150 Projects in 100 Days" marathon, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) held its 101st inauguration. Rumelihisarı-Aşiyan Funicular Line; CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, CHP Deputy Chairman Honorary Adıgüzel, CHP Istanbul Provincial President Canan Kaftancıoğlu, IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu and former IMM Presidents Nurettin Sözen, Ali Müfit Gürtuna and a group of Boğaziçi University students, after the opening ceremony. Along with the line, the renewed Aşiyan Park was opened to the use of citizens. Speaking at the opening ceremony for both services, CHP Chairman Kılıçdaroğlu said:
KILIÇDAROĞLU: “EKREM PRESIDENT IS A PERSON OVERCOME OBSTACLES WITH INTELLIGENCE AND SCIENCE”
“Living in a city like Istanbul has its own problems. But in order to overcome those problems, in a sense, the city manager, the mayor, and their friends aspire to solve these problems. Just told Mr. President; He explained in detail what difficulties he encountered and how he overcame them. The rulers of the state have certain responsibilities. When lower managers face certain problems, senior managers contribute and make an effort to overcome these problems. But, 'No, these problems should not be overcome. Istanbul was ours. May the mayor encounter problems again, drown in problems, not be able to solve problems. Let's come...' This is not a healthy and consistent understanding of the state. Despite all these obstacles, Ekrem President is a person who overcame all obstacles with reason, knowledge and experience and serves the people of Istanbul. In the presence of all of you, I heartily congratulate Mr. President.”
“IF YOU CRASH THE UNIVERSITY, YOU MISS THE TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION”
Kılıçdaroğlu said, “Of course, when a city is served, it will be served with knowledge,” adding, “Planning will be done. Cost accounts will be issued. What is the curve, what is the truth? These will be looked into. It will be checked whether the people doing the work are competent. Services will be provided within this framework. It will also benefit the academic world. And the people of Istanbul will see the service rendered in a valuable way by experiencing it.” Stating that they examined a relief made by the sculptor Rahmi Aksungur at the entrance of the funicular line to Boğaziçi University Station, Kılıçdaroğlu said:
“A relief representing or reflecting Boğaziçi University professors and students. Boğaziçi University is an extremely important university not only for Turkey but also for the academic world. The preservation of the prestige of the university, the free discussion of all kinds of ideas at the university, and the teaching of knowledge by the university lead to the economic leap of a country. If you paralyze the university, you will miss the technological revolution, just as the Ottomans missed the industrial revolution. I wonder if the rulers of the state are aware of this? This is the basic question. If a person says 'I am a visionary', he has to see developments in the next century. He has to see where the world is going. He has to know what developments are taking place in the world. And he must know this: It is not possible for a country that does not produce knowledge to advance in the 21st century. Where will we produce knowledge? We will produce in universities. That's why that relief should be engraved in the memory of all of us, not only in the lives of Istanbulites, but wherever we live in the geography of Turkey. Of course, the academic world will have its own freedom. What did he think he said? He said, 'There is no benefit from the fatwa of the scholar who sits at the Sultan's table. If someone is sitting at the Sultan's table and trying to serve in the Bosphorus, no good will come from there.”
“WE MUST PREPARE OUR TURKEY FOR THE FUTURE”
Kılıçdaroğlu said, "There is nothing as valuable as knowledge," and said, "There is nothing as valuable as thinking otherwise and thinking differently. There is nothing as valuable as questioning life. There is nothing more valuable than fostering a sense of curiosity. If you care about them and give importance to them, then you have a vision. It means you have a goal. It means you have a county. In the vicious debate, 'How can I trip the mayor? If you look for "How can he not function", you cannot manage the state. As a matter of fact, they cannot manage,” he said. Underlining that they will prepare Turkey for the second century as an alliance of six, Kılıçdaroğlu concluded his speech with the following words:
“We all know the conditions we live in today. We all know the difficulties. But we all know how to overcome these difficulties. We know how valuable intelligence, knowledge and science are. We know that democracy is indispensable. That's why I don't want any of my citizens to fall into despair. If this country fought the War of National Liberation in the most difficult conditions and achieved great successes, if its signature became an example for all oppressed countries and if they took this struggle as an example and built their own independence, in the second century of the Republic, this beautiful country We will crown our republic with democracy. When democracy comes, there will be growth, there will be development. No one's lifestyle, no one's identity, no one's belief will be questioned. Everyone living in this country will live in peace in the streets, streets, parks and cafes of this country. This is our main goal. Therefore, we should never, ever have the thought of falling into despair. We must prepare our Turkey for the future.”
İMAMOĞLU: “THE TENDER WAS MADE WITHOUT PLANNING THE FINANCE OF THE LINE”
Saying, “Today, we are taking a small step for Istanbul's rail system network, but a big and important step for Istanbul,” İBB President İmamoğlu also included the construction story of the Rumelihisarı-Aşiyan Funicular Line in his speech. Emphasizing that it is necessary to know why the construction of the 800-meter line took 5 years, İmamoğlu said, “What happened during the construction of the line is like a striking summary of the metro works carried out in Istanbul for the previous 25 years. The tender for this line was made in March 2017. Work started in June 2017. According to the contract, this 800-meter line should have been finished in 2019. But at the beginning of 2019, before we took office, the construction of the line was completely stopped. Because the tender was made without planning the financing. In addition, there were some important mistakes in the tender process. There were also many technical problems with the project. For example; The electronic and mechanical designs of the funicular vehicles and the system were not made. By the time the construction of the project was stopped, there were a few months left to the contract completion. But field progress was still at 26 percent. So, what percent was the financial progress when the business progress was only 26 percent? 50 percent of his budget was spent”.
"WE DON'T CALL 'WASTE ORDER' SINCE THE FIRST DAY"
Reminding his words, "We have not been saying 'waste system' for nothing since the first day," İmamoğlu said, "The people of Istanbul understood this situation very clearly. 16 million people living in this city voted on March 31 and June 23 knowing which order they ended and who overthrew their reign in Istanbul. Stating that they received the line with deficiencies in the project and insulation errors in the main line tunnel reinforced concrete, İmamoğlu said, “These errors cause water to enter the tunnel. So in reality, the project has not progressed even at the level of 26 percent. Such was the photo of the work done and the quality of the inspection. As soon as we took office, we immediately made the equity budget planning. We restarted construction, vehicle and electromechanical system design and manufacturing. We quickly finished all the manufacturing work. We have completed the vehicle testing and commissioning processes. And thank God, we have come this far,” he said. Expressing his thanks to IMM Deputy Secretary General Pelin Alpkökin and her team for conducting the process, İmamoğlu continued his speech with the following words:
“THE GENTS BEFORE US…”
“The gentlemen before us. I say 'gentlemen', Mr. President, because there were no senior 'female managers' among them. Look, Pelin is the head of these important infrastructure works for us. These 'gentlemen' worked in full harmony with the government. Under the absolute power of their own party, they could do whatever they wanted. There was no pandemic. Inflation and the exchange rate were not as dire as they are today. That's all they could do, even under all these favorable conditions. Now they come out again and say, 'Imamoglu owns our project'. Did you or did you pay for the project out of your pocket and you say 'our project'?
My dear citizens; All these works, all these projects are done with your money, that is, with the money of every citizen living in this city. Projects have only one owner: Folks. Temporary managers, whether elected or appointed, cannot own projects. These projects are not the property of anyone's father. Continuity is essential in the state. No matter who is on duty, the project belongs to the nation and the state. It's not what you do that matters, but how you do it."
TUZLA AND MELEN DAM MESSAGES
"We had an unfortunate event in Tuzla recently," said İmamoğlu. "For example, he appeared there (Tuzla Mayor Şadi Yazıcı). We thank the mayor of that period, Mr. President,' he said. Of course we do. It was completed during his reign. But there is one thing he forgot: The site allocation for that project was made in '96. Our esteemed president here, Nurettin Sözen, made the preparation and initiation of the project. He laid the foundation and started it. He matured the process and Mr. Erdogan finished it. God bless you. In other words, when you decipher a political base of such a thing in this way, there is so much underneath; You will be under it,” he said. Bringing the word to the Melen Dam, İmamoğlu shared the following information:
“Great efforts have been made. Routes were drawn, some infrastructure works were done. Just like the incompetence in this funicular, the investment of 12-13 billion now is garbage. And Melen Dam is not working. In their latest tender, they said, 'Okay, brother, we will open in January-February 2023'. It is now 10% done. Contractor terminated. And they can't get the new tender. However, while laying the foundation, the minister of that period said, 'We will open it on this day of December 2016, at this time'. For exactly 6 years ago. This is a period of incompetence. At a time when the real interest in the manufacturing sector went up to 150 percent, during the pandemic period, when our allowances were cut, and we could not get a single lira from government institutions for 3,5 years, we are doing these things. For him, this is an indication of what kind of wasteful order people actually do and how they do things half-heartedly in that order. Our nation should know this. Do not look at the fact that they stand out with fancy projects in some eyewash works, projects with increased costs, and even in an environment where this build-operate model for which you cannot even calculate the cost, is produced with an illusionist concept. You can tell by the face of the business that occurs in places like these that directly serve the public.”
“I PROUDLY HATE OUR ORGANIZATION OF DOING WORK WITH MY BREAST”
Saying, “I proudly openly embrace the order of business in our own time,” İmamoğlu said to those who criticize them, “You who could not make an 800-meter line on time, you who inflicted millions of liras on the public, what do you claim? If we were under normal circumstances, you wouldn't be able to say a word today. You know very well how you can speak. I want to remind and underline it with thick pencils. You can speak out today as the Ministry of Interior seized dozens of corruption investigations initiated by the Metropolitan Municipality Inspection Board regarding your period and illegally took the investigation files from us. You can talk like that because those investigations are prevented from being submitted to the judiciary. Think; 33 large investigative files… Billions of liras worth of public loss… A huge neglected and betrayed Istanbul. Gentlemen, I remind you: This painting is your work. Let's own what part of it," he said.
“THEY DON'T WORK IN vain…”
Expressing the information that for the previous 25 years, the annual average of rail system construction in Istanbul was below 5 kilometers, İmamoğlu said, “We are building almost 2,5 times more than that every year. They falsely compare our 3,5 years with their 25 years and try to show what we have done as little. Moreover, while they are cutting our resources, trying to prevent us in every field, delaying our loans or not giving approval at all... But they cannot prevent us with this, they cannot. Don't bother in vain. We do our job with the understanding of 'respect for people, care for the city' and being sensitive to all details. We are solving the problems of the city, which have not been resolved for a quarter of a century, and which have become deadlocks, one by one," he said.
GIVEN THE GLORY OF NEW PROJECTS
Saying "Everything we put our hands on and create solutions for is very good," İmamoğlu said, "We still have a lot of work to do. We are working towards the Target of a Carbon Neutral and Resistant City by 2050. We are developing alternative routes in order to reduce the use of private vehicles in urban transportation and to increase the use of the rail system and sea in public transportation. We are working to produce environmentally friendly solutions with alternative transportation models in the transition between two sides. Among these works, there is also the 55 km long express metro HIZRAY, which will reduce the distance between Beylikdüzü - Sabiha Gökçen Airport to 74,5 minutes. We also have funicular works that provide integration between metro lines and sea transportation. We also started the designs of 3 new funicular lines. We have completed the designs of ITU – İstinye Funicular Line. We continue to work on the budget and finance. Thus, we are planning access to Beykoz and Çubuklu from ITU and ITU metro station by funicular to Istinye and then by sea. Preliminary studies of Yıldız – Ortaköy Funicular Line and Altunizade – Çengelköy Funicular Lines continue. We also start their designs. With the completion of these two funicular lines, we will connect Ortaköy and Çengelköy with sea transportation and provide a very pleasant public transportation crossing between the two sides.
“I GET MY ENERGY FROM THE LOVE OF THE PEOPLE OF ISTANBUL AND THE ENDLESS SUPPORT OF MY GENERAL PRESIDENT KEMAL KILIÇDAROĞLU”
Saying, “Today we are on the 150th day of the service marathon that we started by saying '150 projects in 100 days' and we are leaving our 101st project behind”, and concluded his speech with the following words:
“For the next 1,5 years, we will continue to work by increasing this pace and always raising our energy. I get this energy from the love and support of the people of Istanbul. I give my thanks to all of them. I get this energy from the endless support of my esteemed Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who deemed me worthy of this task and has always guided and helped me since the first day. I thank him very much. I would like to thank everyone who played a role in the construction of the Bosphorus Rumeli Hisarı-Aşiyan Funicular Line, no matter more or less, who contributed. Good luck, good luck. Tomorrow we will celebrate the 99th anniversary of our Republic with an enthusiastic ceremony. I invite you all to the big celebration we will hold in Üsküdar Square. As we start counting down for its centennial, we see and feel the value of our Republic much better. We understand more and more the importance of the principles of the Republic and the great leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. We are excited and hopeful that we will carry our Republic much further with the strength we have gained from its first century. We can achieve anything, we can reach any goal we set before us. As long as we never compromise on being people of 'free mind, free knowledge, free conscience', as the great poet Tevfik Fikret, who comes to mind when Aşiyan is mentioned, said.
BOAT TOUR WITH STUDENTS FROM BOSPHORUS
After the speeches, the Rumelihisarı-Aşiyan Funicular Line was officially put into service with the ribbon cut by Kılıçdaroğlu, Adıgüzel, Kaftancıoğlu, İmamoğlu, Sözen, Gürtuna, Sarıyer Mayor Şükrü Genç, Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, Kartal Mayor Gökhan Yüksel and Şişli Mayor Muammer Yüksel. it happened. Kılıçdaroğlu, İmamoğlu and their accompanying delegation descended from Boğaziçi University Station to Aşiyan Station by the funicular that was put into service. Kılıçdaroğlu, Kaftancıoğlu and İmamoğlu, who also examined the Aşiyan Park, which was renovated from top to bottom, took a boat. Kabataş He went to the Transfer Center construction site and received a presentation from IBB Deputy Secretary General Gürkan Alpay.
WE WILL SERVE 3 THOUSAND PASSENGERS PER HOUR
The Rumelihisarı-Aşiyan Funicular Line, which was completed in 2 years by İBB, cost approximately 250 million liras. The line, which will serve approximately 3 thousand passengers per hour, consists of 2 stops. The length of the line, whose total travel time is 2,5 minutes, is 0,8 kilometers. The line, which will be open to internet and telephone access, will be integrated with the (M6) Levent-Hisarüstü Metro Line and Rumelihisarüstü Station and the City Lines (Anadolu Hisarı, Küçüksu and Üsküdari Piers) and Aşiyan Station. In this way, it will create an alternative in terms of continental transitions.
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