ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Turkish President, the South Korean Prime Minister and other officials inaugurated on Friday a massive suspension bridge across the Dardanelles Strait, which connects the European and Asian shores of a key waterway.
With a span of 2,023 meters (6,637 feet) between the towers, the 1915 Canakkale Bridge becomes the longest suspension bridge in the world, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
It connects the city of Gelibolu, located on the European side of the northwestern Turkish province of Canakkale, with the city of Lapseki, on the Asian side. According to the President, the bridge allows travelers to cross the Dardanelles, which connects the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara, in just six minutes compared to the previous hour and a half by ferry.
“Turkey overtook Japan, which has the longest bridge in the world in terms of middle span, to take first place,” Erdogan said during the inauguration ceremony.
The inauguration was timed to coincide with the 107th anniversary of Turkey’s naval victory in World War I over the joint British-French fleet that attacked the Dardanelles. The failure of the naval campaign led to the ill-fated landing in 1915 on the Gallipoli Peninsula of the Allies, led by Britain and France, along with troops from Australia and New Zealand.
“The 1915 Canakkale Bridge will leave behind this history of clashes and conflicts and become a bridge between East and West, ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity,” South Korean Prime Minister Kim Bu Gum said during the ceremony. historical battlefields in the Canakkale region.
The bridge, built by a consortium of Turkish and South Korean companies, will also strengthen ties between Turkey and South Korea, Kim said.
The “1915 Canakkale Bridge” cost 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) to build, Erdogan said, but Turkey will save 415 million euros ($458 million) a year by reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. He announced that the toll for the bridge would be 200 Turkish Lira (US$13.60).
The architecture of the bridge is saturated with symbolism. Its 2,023-meter (6,637-foot) central span is a symbol of 2023, Erdogan said, as Turkey marks the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The height of the bridge towers is 318 meters (1043 feet) – a tribute to March 18 (or March 18), when Turkey commemorates the soldiers who died during the sea and land battles of Gallipoli.
The Gallipoli Campaign of World War I was aimed at securing a sea route from the Mediterranean to Istanbul via the Dardanelles and withdrawing the Ottoman Empire from the war. The landing at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915 marked the beginning of a fierce battle that lasted eight months. About 44,000 Allied soldiers and 86,000 Ottoman soldiers died in the fighting.