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🇹🇷 Turkey /Economy & Trade

Deniz Yavuzyılmaz condemns motorway privatization as a betrayal of citizens

From Cumhuriyet · () Turkish

Translated from Turkish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • Turkish opposition lawmaker Deniz Yavuzyılmaz said two İzmir-area motorways were included in a 30-year privatization program covering two Bosphorus bridges, eight motorways and two ring roads.
  • He said the presidential decision referred to a 2010 privatization ruling rather than listing every motorway by name, bringing the İzmir-Çeşme and İzmir-Aydın routes into the program.
  • Yavuzyılmaz predicted that tolls could rise four- or fivefold after privatization, although he said increases might be delayed until after an election.

A presidential decision has placed Turkey’s İzmir-Çeşme and İzmir-Aydın motorways within a 30-year privatization program, prompting sharp criticism from opposition lawmaker Deniz Yavuzyılmaz. He described the move as “a privatization that amounts to betrayal of citizens” and warned that drivers could face repeated toll increases.

A privatization that amounts to betrayal of citizens.

· Deniz YavuzyılmazYavuzyılmaz’s characterization of the presidential decision to privatize the motorways.

The program covers two Bosphorus bridges, eight motorways and two ring roads. Yavuzyılmaz told Cumhuriyet that the presidential decision did not list every motorway individually. Instead, it referred to a 2010 decision by the Higher Privatization Board. Examining that earlier decision, he said, shows that the two İzmir motorways also fall within the privatization scope.

Yavuzyılmaz said he and other YENİ Party lawmakers had previously raised the issue, but AKP officials in İzmir denied that the roads would be privatized. He argued that the latest decision proved his side had been telling the truth and showed who had concealed the facts from citizens.

When you look at the 2010 Higher Privatization Board decision, you see that the İzmir-Çeşme and İzmir-Aydın motorways were also included in the privatization scope.

· Deniz YavuzyılmazHe explained how the presidential decision’s reference to the 2010 ruling brought the two motorways into the program.

He expects the roads’ tolls to be brought closer to per-kilometre charges on nearby motorways operated under the build-operate-transfer model. “This means that the vehicle tolls on the İzmir-Çeşme and İzmir-Aydın motorways will receive increase after increase,” he said. He estimated that charges could eventually reach four or five times their current levels.

This means that the vehicle tolls on the İzmir-Çeşme and İzmir-Aydın motorways will receive increase after increase.

· Deniz YavuzyılmazHe predicted repeated toll increases after privatization.

Yavuzyılmaz also claimed the AKP could ask companies taking over the privatized roads to hold off on raising tolls until after a possible election. In that scenario, he said, the cost would be passed on to citizens after the vote.

The figures are expected to rise four or five times in the coming period.

· Deniz YavuzyılmazHe estimated the potential scale of future toll increases.
About this summary

Originally published by Cumhuriyet in Turkish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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