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Taxi drivers beat Uber driver in Istanbul amid quarrel over ‘tourist scam’
Taxi drivers beat Uber driver in Istanbul amid quarrel over ‘tourist scam’
Footage of a fight between an Uber driver who accused taxi drivers of frauding tourists in Istanbul was published by local media on Oct. 18. Click through for the story in photos...
According to local media reports, 42-year-old Uber driver Yakup Bayıroğlu filmed the alleged misconducts of taxi drivers on Reşadiye Avenue in the Eminönü neighborhood.
The footage showed a taxi driver rejecting a female customer, saying her destination was “too close,” a reason that is against current regulations.
Bayıroğlu then claimed on camera that another taxi driver replaced United States dollars from a foreign tourist with counterfeit money before giving them their change.
After Bayıroğlu went up to the tourist and warned him of the alleged fraud, a third taxi driver intervened and physically assaulted him.
“He scratched my face,” the Uber driver reportedly said.
Turkey’s Interior Ministry had instructed governors on Oct. 12 to take legal action against taxi drivers whose wrongful practices have triggered an avalanche of customer complaints.
The ride sharing app Uber has also been effectively banned in Turkey.
After a series of violent attacks by taxi drivers on Uber drivers, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan intervened on June 1. “That business is now over. There is no such thing as Uber anymore,” he said.
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