Uber’s business is finished in Turkey

Erdogan: “Uber’s ‘business is finished’ in Turkey”

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said that Uber’s business finished in Turkey. Because of pressure from Istanbul taxi drivers about providing an illegal service to ban.

About 17,400 taxis operate in Istanbul, home to about a fifth of Turkey’s population of 81 million people. And since Uber entered the country in 2014 tensions have risen sharply.

Erdogan’s statement came after new regulations announced in recent weeks tightening transport licensing requirements. It makes more difficult for drivers to register with Uber and threatening a two-year ban for violations.

Uber doesn’t give immediate response to his comment. After announce that want to work with all sides to improve transport and to be “a true partner to Turkey for the long term”.

Uber said that about 2,000 yellow cab drivers use its app to find customers, while another 5,000 work for UberXL, using large vans to transport groups to parties, or take people with bulky luggage to Istanbul’s airports. It declined to reveal the number of Uber users in Turkey, where it operates in Istanbul, and in the resort towns of Bodrum and Cesme in the summer months.

Earlier this year, Istanbul’s taxi drivers took Uber to court accusing it of hindering their business and operating illegally.

©Reuters