Minister Uraloğlu, who is present to support Turkish companies in InnoTrans ⁇ , Europe's largest international transport technologies, systems and vehicles fair held biennially in Berlin, met with representatives of Turkish non-governmental organizations and business people at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin.
Uraloğlu stated that they were in Berlin on the occasion of participating in a fair that is important worldwide and said that Germany is one of the countries with which Turkey has the most intense and highest level of relations.
Uraloğlu draws attention to the strategic location of Turkey on the world map, ⁇ If you open the geography of our map to someone who does not know the world at all, he shows our country with his finger. Because this place is precious. We are really in such a precious place. We are in a really valuable geography from the east-west passageways to the historical Silk Road to the modern Silk Road.
Uraloğlu explained that they traveled to 67 countries with a 4-hour flight from Turkey and said that these 67 countries have a population of 1.5 billion, a national income of 40 trillion dollars and a trade volume of 10 trillion dollars.
Stating that Turkey is located on both east-west and north-south trade routes, especially the Middle Corridor, Uraloğlu said, ⁇ We also want to strengthen this position of Turkey seriously. We are investing in him, he said.
We built 32 airports in 22 years.
Minister Uraloğlu emphasized that they work day and night with all the teams of the ministry in an effort to serve the citizens and continued as follows:
⁇ In the last 22 years, we have increased the divided road length from 6 thousand 101 kilometers to 29 thousand 505 kilometers... While the vehicle ownership in Turkey was approximately 8 million, today the vehicle ownership has increased to 30 million. We also increased the average speed between cities from 40 kilometers per hour to 90 kilometers per hour. There were 26 airports in Turkey. We built 32 more airports in 22 years. It's really easy to say. So we almost built an airport every year and a half. The number of people traveling was 214 million last year, including international flights.
We think it's going to be $230 million this year. Istanbul Airport was 53 million as of the end of last month. We expect it to reach 80 million this year. What did we do on the other side of the railroad? It's about 11,000 kilometers. After we started in the early days of Cumhuriyet, we revived the railway move, which unfortunately we could not continue much. It has made the existing railway signaled and electric. We introduced our country to high-speed trains again. We built a railway network of 2,250 kilometers. ⁇
Minister Uraloğlu, we are working intensively on a Development Road Corridor that can reach from ⁇ Basra Bay ⁇ to Türkiye ⁇ via Iraq and from there to the whole of Europe. In order to strengthen the position of the country, we are in an effort to quickly eliminate its deficiencies in the transportation corridors. ⁇
Uraloğlu pointed out that they continue to work, that they do not only invest in infrastructure in Turkey, that they also start to produce rail system vehicles, and we produced our own electric passenger train, which goes at 160 kilometers per hour, for example, within our iron roads.
We were already building our locomotives. Now we are at a speed of 225 kilometers, I hope we will start this next year. We'll produce it. On the one hand, we are now planning to build 300-350 kilometers of roads. For example, we want to make a super-fast train between Ankara ⁇ and Istanbul at 350 kilometers per hour. ⁇
Uraloğlu, who also stated that there are 217 large and small ports in Turkey, how can we make our country truly equipped against all risks after Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war? How can we overcome those risks with little difficulty? We're thinking about it, he said.
⁇ Being in Germany is very valuable ⁇
Uraloğlu said that the number of mobile phone subscribers in Turkey, which has a population of 85 million, exceeded 90 million. Emphasizing that they are trying to meet the needs in 81 provinces of Turkey, Uraloğlu continued as follows:
We tried to touch him for God's sake. God has given us these things, and He has given us these things. How do we make our people's work easier? We have been in this effort, with good intentions... Here are the possibilities limited, the needs unlimited. I'd like to say I've never agreed to that. Is it not clear what a person's needs are? Is there no limit?
Absolutely there is. Aren't the needs of a country limited? Absolutely, in that sense, sometimes there are discourses at the point of a complete consumption policy. I'd say I don't find them quite right with that approach. Of course, we should have caught this point of Turkey much earlier. We have done very well in terms of technology, but I would like to say that we have more work to do. We're trying at that point. ⁇
Uraloğlu reminded that 3.5 million people of Turkish origin live in Germany and said that 10 percent of this is in the capital Berlin.
Minister Uraloğlu, ⁇ Dear brothers, it is very valuable for you to be here. For one thing, you have an effort at the subsistence of your own family and relatives individually. So you have a lot of sacrifices. Then it's about bringing foreign currency to our country. Then you have your efforts to provide employment here. These are really precious to us. You're here selflessly. And you represent our country, our Turkey, here in a beautiful way. I think your every move is the equivalent of a representation in that sense. ⁇ He spoke in the form.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu then answered questions from representatives of Turkish non-governmental organizations and business people.
