President Erdoğan opens new Istanbul metro line and vows to solve city’s traffic woes

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the inauguration of the Halkalı‑Arnavutköy section, the final stage of the Halkalı‑Istanbul Airport‑Gayrettepe metro project. He highlighted that the 69‑kilometre line, Turkey’s longest, will cut travel times to the airport to about 30 minutes and to Göktürk to 43 minutes, saving an estimated 117 million hours. Erdoğan said the government will continue to invest in Istanbul’s infrastructure, stressing that the city will not be left to its “fate” and that traffic problems will be addressed.

In Şanlıurfa, mayor Mehmet Kasım Gülpınar, speaking at the foundation ceremony for the Eyyübiye municipal service building, paid tribute to Erdoğan, calling his leadership reliable and promising ongoing loyalty. Gülpınar said the mayor’s office will remain beside the president as long as he is in office, underscoring long‑standing political solidarity.