عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Erdogan Opens Huge Suspension Bridge Linking Europe and Asia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends opening ceremony of the 1915 Canakkale Bridge over the Dardanelles, in Canakkale, Turkey March 18, 2022. (Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends opening ceremony of the 1915 Canakkale Bridge over the Dardanelles, in Canakkale, Turkey March 18, 2022. (Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
TT
TT

Erdogan Opens Huge Suspension Bridge Linking Europe and Asia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends opening ceremony of the 1915 Canakkale Bridge over the Dardanelles, in Canakkale, Turkey March 18, 2022. (Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends opening ceremony of the 1915 Canakkale Bridge over the Dardanelles, in Canakkale, Turkey March 18, 2022. (Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened a massive suspension bridge across Turkey's Dardanelles Strait on Friday, the latest in a series of major infrastructure projects which he has prioritized during his two decades in power.

Connecting Turkey's European and Asian shores, the 1915 Canakkale Bridge was built by Turkish and South Korean firms with an investment of 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion). It has the longest main span - the distance between the two towers - of any suspension bridge in the world.

Such mega projects have been central to Erdogan's achievements since his AK Party first came to power in 2002, including a new Istanbul airport, rail and road tunnels beneath Istanbul's Bosphorus strait, and a bridge over it.

"These works will continue to provide profit for the state for many years," Erdogan said at an opening ceremony on the anniversary of a 1915 Ottoman naval victory against French and British forces in the Dardanelles during World War One.

"These projects have a large share in putting our country ahead in investment, workforce and exports," he said.

Last year he launched what he previously called his "crazy project": a $15 billion canal in Istanbul intended to relieve pressure on the busy Bosphorus Strait. However critics have questioned the project's viability given Turkey's economic woes, environmental risks and public opposition.

Costly

Ahead of national elections scheduled for 2023, opinion polls have shown a slide in the popularity of Erdogan and his AK Party, boosting the opposition's prospects of ousting him.

The main opposition CHP has criticized the potential cost of the bridge to the public purse, with media reports saying the build-operate-transfer agreement includes an annual payment guarantee of 380 million euros ($420 million) to the operators or a total 6 billion euros over the duration of the accord.

Erdogan said the price for passenger vehicles to use the bridge would be 200 lira ($13.50).

Work on the Dardanelles bridge project was launched in March 2017, with more than 5,000 workers involved in the construction.

The 2,023 meter (1.25 mile) length of its midspan is an allusion to the Turkish Republic's 100th anniversary in 2023.

It is the fourth bridge linking the European and Asian shores in Turkey, alongside the three built in Istanbul.

Its towers are 318 meters (347.8 yards) high and the total length of the bridge is 4.6 km (2.9 miles) including the approach viaducts.

Until now, vehicles traveling between Anatolia and the Gallipoli peninsula had to cross the Dardanelles in a one-hour ferry journey, which including waiting time amounted to as much as five hours. The journey will now take around six minutes.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

UK Publishes Legislation for Tougher Sanctions on Iran

People walk along a market street in Tehran on September 7, 2026. (AFP)
People walk along a market street in Tehran on September 7, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

UK Publishes Legislation for Tougher Sanctions on Iran

People walk along a market street in Tehran on September 7, 2026. (AFP)
People walk along a market street in Tehran on September 7, 2026. (AFP)

Britain on Tuesday published legislation to introduce tougher sanctions on Iran, expanding trade restrictions and powers to target ships ‌as part ‌of what it described ‌as ⁠wider effort to ⁠curb Tehran's nuclear program and other hostile activities.

The government said the measures would restrict Iran's access to the British financial ⁠system, expand trade ‌bans to additional ‌goods, technology and services, ‌and prohibit Iranian aircraft from ‌landing in Britain unless exemptions apply.

Stephen Doughty, a foreign office minister, said in ‌a written statement that the legislation "doubles down on our action ⁠to ⁠constrain Iran's nuclear ambitions" and would help ensure Iran was never able to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Iran's embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

World

Nicaragua Maintains German Arms Exports to Israel Violate International Law

Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, agent for Nicaragua, listens during public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by Germany in the case brought by Nicaragua, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP)
Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, agent for Nicaragua, listens during public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by Germany in the case brought by Nicaragua, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP)
TT
TT

Nicaragua Maintains German Arms Exports to Israel Violate International Law

Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, agent for Nicaragua, listens during public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by Germany in the case brought by Nicaragua, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP)
Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, agent for Nicaragua, listens during public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by Germany in the case brought by Nicaragua, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP)

Nicaragua told the International ‌Court of Justice on Tuesday that Germany's arms exports to Israel violates the 1948 Genocide Convention and humanitarian law and urged the court to allow its case against Berlin to continue.

Germany suspended weapons exports to Israel for a few months in 2025, but they have since resumed. It is Israel's second biggest weapons supplier after the US and has long been one of its staunchest supporters, principally because of historical guilt for the Nazi Holocaust.

A US-backed ceasefire since October 2025 halted large-scale fighting that had devastated Gaza ‌but has not ‌ended Israeli strikes.

Speaking on behalf of Nicaragua, Ambassador ‌Carlos ⁠Jose Arguello Gomez said ⁠Berlin should have been aware there was a "serious risk that acts that could amount to genocide were being committed by Israel" and should have used all reasonable measures to prevent genocide according to the Genocide Convention.

Nicaragua and Germany are both signatories of the Genocide Convention which includes an obligation on states to act ⁠to prevent possible genocide - but it is unusual ‌for the court to hear cases where ‌neither party is directly involved in the conflict at the heart ‌of it.

Israel rejects genocide allegations as politically motivated and ‌says its military campaign has targeted the Hamas group, whose attack on Israel triggered the war in October 2023.

On Monday, Germany asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, to throw out ‌the case because they argued the court lacked jurisdiction on various procedural grounds.

Nicaragua on Tuesday dismissed ⁠Berlin's arguments ⁠that it was unclear that a dispute existed when the case was filed, pointing to communication with the foreign ministry and press statements.

Nicaragua's case builds on the one South Africa brought against Israel for alleged genocide. In an interim ruling in 2024, the ICJ said it was plausible Israel violated some rights guaranteed under the Genocide Convention during its assault on Gaza. However, that case is not expected to be heard in full until late 2029.

A ruling on Germany's objection to jurisdiction is expected later this year. Even if the case can continue, it is expected to take years before a final ruling on the merits.

World

Nepal Flood Death Toll Rises as Rescuers Scour Tunnels

A man looks at the remains in the aftermath of flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on September 7, 2026. (AFP)
A man looks at the remains in the aftermath of flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on September 7, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Nepal Flood Death Toll Rises as Rescuers Scour Tunnels

A man looks at the remains in the aftermath of flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on September 7, 2026. (AFP)
A man looks at the remains in the aftermath of flash floods at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot district on September 7, 2026. (AFP)

The death toll from Nepal's devastating flood rose on Tuesday to 1,357, with 5,326 people still missing, the country's disaster authority said nearly two weeks after the August 26 disaster.

In China, 43 people were confirmed dead and 519 missing, according to state media, bringing the overall toll to 1,400 dead and 5,845 missing.

Rescue work continued in Nepal for a 14th day after the devastating glacial and mountain collapse near the China-Nepal border swept away roads, bridges and homes.

Nepali rescuers are focusing on three hydropower projects where they believe workers could still be trapped, the disaster agency said.

Hundreds of hydropower workers are among the missing, but the rescue of three from deep inside tunnels -- two Nepalis on Friday and a Chinese man on Saturday -- has raised hopes that others could still be alive.

"Our search and rescue operation is ongoing," Dharam Raj Uprety, chief of the country's disaster authority, told AFP.

"We are hoping that there might still be survivors in at least three projects, and we are pushing our operations there."

Foreign experts, including from China, India and South Korea, are aiding Nepali teams.

"We have also received reports that there are stranded people higher on the hill," Uprety added.

With mortuaries overflowing, Nepal has buried hundreds of bodies in mass graves after collecting DNA samples for future identification, according to police.

While the exact cause of the glacial collapse is unclear, climate change is accelerating glacial melt worldwide, increasing the risk of such disasters.

Nepal, a largely rural nation of 30 million people that has contributed little to the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming, has said reconstruction could cost billions of dollars.

David Fisher, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said reaching communities isolated by the floods was a daunting task because of "narrow and dangerous" access routes.

"Every delay means families wait longer for the support they urgently need," he said in a statement.