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.



Trump Says Iran Must Give Up Dream of Nuclear Weapon or Face Harsh Response

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, April 14, 2025. (AFP)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, April 14, 2025. (AFP)
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Trump Says Iran Must Give Up Dream of Nuclear Weapon or Face Harsh Response

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, April 14, 2025. (AFP)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, April 14, 2025. (AFP)

President Donald Trump said on Monday he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran's atomic facilities.

"I think they're tapping us along," Trump told reporters after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met in Oman on Saturday with a senior Iranian official.

Both Iran and the United States said on Saturday that they held "positive" and "constructive" talks in Oman. A second round is scheduled for Saturday, and a source briefed on the planning said the meeting was likely to be held in Rome.

The source, speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said the discussions are aimed at exploring what is possible, including a broad framework of what a potential deal would look like.

"Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon. They cannot have a nuclear weapon," Trump said.

Asked if US options for a response include a military strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities, Trump said: "Of course it does."

Trump said the Iranians need to move fast to avoid a harsh response because "they're fairly close" to developing a nuclear weapon.

The US and Iran held indirect talks during former President Joe Biden's term, but they made little, if any progress. The last known direct negotiations between the two governments were under then-President Barack Obama, who spearheaded the 2015 international nuclear deal that Trump later abandoned.