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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)
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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.

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World

Rule of Law 'Routinely Challenged', Says ICC Head

The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. (Reuters)
The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. (Reuters)
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Rule of Law 'Routinely Challenged', Says ICC Head

The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. (Reuters)
The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. (Reuters)

The global rule of law is frequently coming under threat, the president of the International Criminal Court warned on Tuesday, vowing to stand up for justice and victims of atrocities.

At a ceremony marking the opening of the ICC's judicial year, Tomoko Akane said international justice was facing an "extraordinary moment."

"The ICC, as well as other judicial institutions around the globe, have been facing significant pressures, coercive measures and attempts to undermine their function," she said.

"Values and premises that we have accepted as a given, as well as the very notion of the rule of law, are being routinely questioned and challenged," added Akane.

The ICC is facing the most difficult period in its history.

Furious at arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the United States has slapped sanctions on top ICC officials, including judges.

This has hindered the court's ability to function and affected the lives of those sanctioned.

In addition, Russia has sentenced ICC officials to jail terms, in retaliation for arrest warrants against President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war.

"Now, more than ever, we must return to the fundamental ideas upon which we stand, the values of justice and humanity that transcend borders," said Akane.

She revealed the court had issued "numerous" further arrest warrants, although these have not yet been made public.

The ICC, based in The Hague, tries individuals suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On Monday, it announced a major step in one of its most high-profile cases.

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte will face a so-called "confirmation of charges" hearing on February 23, after judges passed him fit.

World

France’s President to Meet Denmark, Greenland Leaders

France's President Emmanuel Macron waits before the arrival of Indonesia's president at the Elysee palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron waits before the arrival of Indonesia's president at the Elysee palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
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France’s President to Meet Denmark, Greenland Leaders

France's President Emmanuel Macron waits before the arrival of Indonesia's president at the Elysee palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron waits before the arrival of Indonesia's president at the Elysee palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (AFP)

France's president will meet the leaders of Denmark and Greenland in Paris on Wednesday for "a working lunch", his office said Tuesday.

Emmanuel Macron will "reaffirm European solidarity and France's support for Denmark, Greenland, their sovereignty and their territorial integrity", the presidency said.

The meeting comes days after US President Donald Trump backed down from threats to seize Greenland, a mineral-rich Arctic island that is an autonomous Danish territory.

The three leaders will discuss "security issues in the Arctic and the economic and social development of Greenland, which France and the European Union are ready to support", Macron's office said.

Faced with Russian threats and US ambitions for Greenland, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen have been making rounds with European allies this week including talks in Hamburg and Berlin ahead of visiting Paris Wednesday.

Trump earlier this month had threatened to seize Greenland and impose tariffs on any European countries, including France, Germany and Britain, that opposed him.

Trump later backed down on the threat to take the territory after meeting NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte last week.

Trump and Rutte had agreed on what the US leader called a "framework", the details of which have not been disclosed.

France has positioned itself at the forefront of European solidarity with Denmark, and is planning to open a consulate in the Greenland capital of Nuuk next month.

World

Israel 'Not Sure' Whether US Will Strike Iran

 This photo provided by the US Navy shows a Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet landing on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean on Jan. 22, 2026. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Daniel Kimmelman/US Navy via AP)
 This photo provided by the US Navy shows a Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet landing on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean on Jan. 22, 2026. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Daniel Kimmelman/US Navy via AP)
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Israel 'Not Sure' Whether US Will Strike Iran

 This photo provided by the US Navy shows a Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet landing on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean on Jan. 22, 2026. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Daniel Kimmelman/US Navy via AP)
 This photo provided by the US Navy shows a Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet landing on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean on Jan. 22, 2026. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Daniel Kimmelman/US Navy via AP)

Israeli observers are in agreement that the final decision on military action against Iran remains in the hands of President Donald Trump alone, Israeli media reported on Monday.

The reports came despite a strategic partnership between Tel Aviv and Washington, intensive coordination meetings at the highest levels, and the prevailing impression among Israeli officials that a US strike against Iran could be carried out soon.

“Trump is dealing with the issue of war as a businessman,” the observers said. “The President could easily back off with a certain deal that offers him clear gains,” they said, stressing that Tehran might also defuse tension with Washington through serious negotiating.

Political and military sources in Tel Aviv said Israel was surprised not to be secretly involved in the size and timing of a potential US strike on Iran.

They said Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir raised the issue with US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Brad Cooper, who visited Israel on Saturday.

The sources said Cooper explained that even the US command is short of details on a decision to carry out a strike against Iran. The matter is limited to President Trump who ordered military readiness without offering further details, they quoted Cooper as saying.

The sources added that US and Israeli military officials discussed coordination for worst-case scenarios and on means to jointly counter them, and shared intelligence on the deployment of Iranian forces.

The Walla website said the two sides also coordinated their preparations for a possible US strike, which could lead to an Iranian attack against Israel.

In an analysis for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, military expert Ron Ben-Yishai said neither the Pentagon nor US Central Command has received instructions beyond preparing a large naval and air force capable of delivering precise strikes on Iran if ordered, while simultaneously preparing to defend American troops and bases and US interests and allies in the Middle East, including Israel.

Ben-Yishai wrote that joint US-Israeli defense against Iranian missile and drone retaliation, were the main focus of discussions between Cooper and Zamir. They also coordinated how the Israeli army would assist with intelligence and other support for a possible American strike, and how the Israeli Air Force would join an offensive campaign alongside US naval and air forces if Israel were attacked.

In the absence of a presidential decision, the two generals appear to have conducted what the Israeli army calls a strategic “contingency discussion,” with details to be finalized later, he said.

He explained that the US president is probably weighing five questions before striking Iran.

The first is whether a limited but highly precise and powerful strike can bring about the collapse of the regime, or at least significantly weaken it and the security apparatus that protects it.

The second is whether there is anyone in Iran who could exploit such weakness to topple the regime completely, or at least force a fundamental change in its domestic policies toward its citizens and its external behavior on the nuclear issue, ballistic missiles and regional policies.

The third question asks whether the military threat should be stabilized and reinforced for several more weeks to allow the Iranian regime and its leader to accept the US demands set as conditions for entering negotiations on lifting sanctions and removing the military threat.

In this regard, he said it is quite possible that the Iranians, even Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, will again conclude that their situation is so dire that it is time for a “heroic compromise.”

The fourth question is “if it becomes clear that the Iranian regime cannot be toppled through air strikes alone, should the massive American force now being assembled in the Middle East be used to deliver another blow to Iran?”

The fifth, and most critical question, the expert said, is whether the Americans have sufficient precise intelligence and whether they even have the capability to achieve any of their objectives, either regime collapse or a blow severe enough to disable Iran’s military infrastructure for many years, and above all, at what cost?

In any case, the decision is in Trump’s hands alone, and as "we have learned, even when he decides, he may change his mind at the last moment," Ben-Yishai said.

Trump does not want to pay the price in American lives or the high cost of a prolonged operation, he added.