‘Cycling policy must be a part of Transportation Master Plan’

* Photo: 'Speak up for Umut' Twitter account

Click to read the article in Turkish

19-year-old Umut Gündüz lost his life after he was hit by a vehicle driven by a drunk driver in the capital city of Ankara.

Every Wednesday for the past five weeks, his family has been staging a sit-in protest in front of the Ministry of Justice.

Until the trial over his death begins on June 24, the family will keep protesting in front of the Ministry every Wednesday from 12 to 1.30 p.m.

The family demands that the driver of the vehicle, who was drunk and driving fast at the moment of accident and has been released without appearing before the judge, be arrested pending trial for "wilful killing" at a heavy penal court in the light of available concrete evidence.

Protesting once again in front of the Ministry yesterday (June 16), the family opened a banne of "Speak up for Umut [#UmutaSesOl] Let the deaths of cyclists end, may justice be served for cycling life."

The protest of the family was also supported by Ankara Branch Chair of the Chamber of Architects Tezcan Karakuş Candan and the Chamber's Ankara Branch Urban Monitoring Secretary Redife Kolçak.

'Automobile-oriented policies must be abandoned'

Speaking during the protest, Candan said that they stood with the family of Umut Gündüz for justice to be served:

"If we are to create an environment of hope where we are not concerned about our health and lives while walking on the road and strolling around, today, we stand with the family of Umut Gündüz so that what happened to the family will not happen again and justice will be done.

"We will be at court on June 24, we invite everyone to seek justice alongside the family of Gündüz. We want justice. We want to cycle from one place to another in cities. We want an end to automobile-oriented policies; we don't want the city's budget to be spent for interchanges and roads."

Underlining that all cities in Turkey must have a more bicycle-oriented, environmentally friendly and livable transportation policies and strategies, Candan called on the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality:

"We call on the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality to directly add the cycling policy to the Transportation Master Plan and to abandon automobile-oriented investments. Instead of allocating a budget for the interchanges and roads (a road has been opened even in the Ankara Forest Farm), a holistic transportation master plan must be introduced.

"There is a need for a transportation policy which will enable people to go from one place to another in a healthy manner during the pandemic by launching the Cycling Ankara project." (KÖ/SD)