Unkapanı bridge to be taken underwater: Istanbul mayor

ISTANBUL

The Unkapanı Bridge over the Golden Horn will be taken underwater in order to enhance the water flow, Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş stated on April 1. 

“A total of 265,000 cubic meters of clean water now enter the Golden Horn every day. Now we will also take the Unkapanı Bridge underwater in order to enhance the water flow, and we are in the tender stage for this project,” Topbaş said during a ceremony in Istanbul’s Kasımpaşa district with the participation of Beyoğlu Mayor Ahmet Misbah Demircan.

The Istanbul mayor also praised President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his efforts regarding the cleaning of the Golden Horn.

“Our president cleaned up the Golden Horn, in which fish used to be killed due to dirt. We brought fresh water to the Golden Horn by opening a tunnel from the Bosphorus Strait and Baltalimanı,” he said. 

Topbaş also touched on other projects planned for the Golden Horn, saying a statue of 16th century Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (Mehmed the Conqueror) would be erected in the middle of the waterway.  

“We will erect a statue showing Sultan Mehmed II on a horse in the sea in the Golden Horn. Tourists passing from here will be able to see his statue and take a photo of it,” he added.

“We removed the previous Galata Bridge and we are building an ecological bridge, which people will be able to cross [to Feshane] between meadows and roses. Then from in front of Feshane they will be able to walk to two islands in the Golden Horn, crossing using the ‘Leonardo Bridge.’ Leonardo da Vinci made a sketch during the era of Süleyman the Magnificent, which we have developed and will build,” Topbaş said. 

Saying investments worth 2.6 billion Turkish Liras had been made for Beyoğlu, he also noted that a 10 meter-wide “floating road” will be constructed on the sea between Karaköy and Koç Museum, 
Topbaş also said they solved the water shortage issue that Istanbul experienced in the past, with dams for the city now 90 percent full. 

“During my 13-year term as Istanbul mayor, we have made investments worth 98 billion liras. Our budget for investments this year is 16.5 billion liras. We owe no financial institution and we have money in our case,” he said. 

He also said that the “seagull-shaped” travel transfer center currently under construction in Kabataş will be “magnificent.”

“The funicular will be connected to there. The metro from Mahmutbey and Beşiktaş will reach there. After Kabataş, we will lengthen that subway line to Şişhane. It will be connected to Şişhane metro line via a walking tunnel. What’s more, people will be able walk to Üsküdar from Kabataş if they wish,” Topbaş stated.