PM Yıldırım says ‘six of 10 recent global megaprojects are in Turkey’

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

Six of the world’s 10 megaprojects over the last decade took place or are taking place in Turkey, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has stated.

“Over the last 10 years, there have been 10 major projects in the world, despite the global economic crisis. I am happy to share with you that six of these 10 projects are in Turkey,” Yıldırım said in a speech in Istanbul at the Aman Union’s 8th Annual Meeting hosted by Turk Eximbank on Nov. 1.

The projects include the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, Marmaray Tunnel, Eurasia Tunnel, and the world’s largest airport (all in Istanbul), as well as the Gulf of İzmit’s Osmangazi Bridge and the İzmir highway.

The 1.4-kilometer Yavuz Sultan Selim is the third bridge across Istanbul’s Bosphorus, and the world’s longest suspension rail bridge in its class.

The earthquake-resistant Osmangazi Bridge, the world’s largest suspension bridge, has a 2,682-meter structure. Crossing Turkey’s Marmara Sea, the bridge cuts travel times between Istanbul and the country’s western provinces and is part of the new six-lane Istanbul-İzmir highway.

The 13.6-km Marmaray Tunnel, built 60 meters below sea level, has shortened the journey between the metropolitan city’s Asian and European sides to just four minutes.

The Eurasia Tunnel, the first road tunnel constructed underneath the Bosphorus seabed, significantly reduces travel time between Istanbul’s Asian and European sides.

Yıldırım also mentioned another project, the Çanakkale 1915 Bridge, which will be the world’s longest suspension bridge when completed.

He said companies invest in these projects because “they see Turkey’s stability.”

“Almost all of these projects have been built through a public-private partnership, except for the Marmaray,” he said, adding that the total price tag of the projects is around $65 billion.

“We are reading the future of the world. The center of riches is moving from West to East,” Yıldırım said,

On Istanbul’s new airport, scheduled to open next year, the prime minister said the center of aviation had moved “from America in the 1970s to Western Europe in the 1980s, to Central Europe in the 1990s, and now Turkey is at the center.”

“It is an enormous project, with a 200 million-passenger capacity and six runways,” he added.

The new airport in Istanbul - the only new airport planned and being constructed in Europe - will assume most passenger traffic from Atatürk International Airport.

When it is completed in 2018, some 250 airlines will fly from the airport to more than 350 destinations, making it one of the world’s largest transportation hubs.