Mehmet Y. Yilmaz: Traffic questions, and the search for a city's leader

Does Istanbul have a leader? The actual answer to this question is easy. Of course it does. In fact we have a few directors, a few leaders, all of whom carry big titles in front of their names. But let's ask it this way then: Is there a leader in Istanbul who respects and places importance on the people? If we look at what we have been experiencing since the opening of schools, then unfortunately, the answer to this question would have to be "no." Actually, this happens every year. Summer comes, the city empties out, the number of cars on the city streets goes down, distances seem to shorten between points. Then fall comes, schools open up, rains start, and suddenly, digging projects begin on one out of every four roads in the city. Traffic goes wild. Places normally 15 minutes away turn into one hour journeys.  And if you ask why, the answer is always simple and the same: The traffic problem will be soved in 3-5 years, and we have to do this construction! And if you ask why the digging and construction didn't happen when the city was empty, the answer is always at the ready: Bureaucracy, there were no resources, the contract bidding stage was slow, etc... It should not be too hard to forsee all of this and act early, in the summer, when roads are empty. But in order for this to happen, city authority has to change hands. The person receiving the salary for city leadership needs to remember that they are being paid by the taxes of those living here. And most importantly, that they are at the service of the people, and that the job they are doing is a "public service," with the goal of making the lives of people living in the city easier. Â