The ride-sharing application Uber announced Friday that it will terminate its UberXL services in Turkey, but continue its operations with its yellow and turquoise taxi service to Istanbul residents and tourists.
Describing the decision as a "very tough call", Uber said that it will no longer offer its larger car service to users in Istanbul.
"Uber has become a global technology platform enabling 15 million journeys per day in more than 700 cities in 63 countries worldwide.
Uber started operating in Istanbul in 2014 and became a popular option of safe transportation. More than 4 million users have downloaded our application in Turkey, and 6,000 companies along with 12,000 UberXL driver partners have generated an income thanks to Uber," the company said in a statement.
It also reiterated its commitment to support local partners and expressed its intent "to be a long-term partner to Turkey."
Back in April, the company announced that it would be downsizing its XL service as the current framework made it very difficult for ride-sharing platforms to offer reliable service. The move comes amid an ongoing legal dispute between Uber and the local taxi unions.
Uber XL vehicles had been under tight police checks in traffic and fined for their activities under a regulation preventing illegal passenger transportation. The downsizing move had come in the face of tightly implemented regulations and mounting fines.
Uber's operations in Turkey have sparked a lot of controversies, with taxi drivers protesting against what they said was unfair competition and illegal business practices by the ride-sharing service. Taxi associations in the city filed a lawsuit against the popular app, calling to block access to the app and seeking damages to their business.
So far, public opinion in Turkey, especially in large cities, has been in favor of Uber since taxi drivers, once praised for their gentlemanly ways, are now associated with being rude servers who refuse to accept passengers for short distances, ripping off tourists, driving dangerously, often smoking in cars and even driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs in extreme cases.
An estimated 17,400 official yellow taxis operate in Turkey's most populous city, Istanbul. They are a pillar of the city's often patchy transport system, but critics say that poor quality of service and overcharging gave Uber an opportunity to carve a niche in the market.
However, on Friday President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan put an end to the debate over the ride-sharing application's future, saying Uber was not different from unlicensed taxi operators and was entrenching upon legitimate taxi drivers. He also rejected to give an appointment to the head of Uber.
