İzmir chamber issues call for women taxi drivers

İZMİR

İzmir’s Chamber of Drivers is seeking women drivers for at least 15 taxi stands to increase the number of women taxi drivers in İzmir, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.  

Women taxi drivers will offered a salary of 2,000 Turkish Liras a month, the chamber said.

The head of the chamber, Celil Anık, said they admired women taxi drivers in other countries and wanted to bring such a project to Turkey.

“I visited Middle East countries and I saw woman drivers. There are also women drivers in Italy and Britain. We thought about this issue and we put this project into effect. We as an İzmir-based and occupational group want to increase our awareness. We picked 15 taxi stands for testing and started the training process,” he said.

Anık also stated that women could earn at least 2,000 liras a month and would work just in the daytime. 
The head also said applicants must possess a “B” driving license.

“I believe this will make a big contribution to us. We can see in our training that women can do this job properly. First of all, I will commend my vehicle, which is used at the airport, to a woman driver who has completed her training successfully,” he said. 

Male drivers in İzmir were also reportedly pleased by the project. Ali Aydıner, who has worked as a taxi driver for at least 30 years, said women drivers would be good for İzmir.

“We support this project because İzmir is a province that faces the West,” he said.