A major underwater tunnel linking İstanbul’s European and Asian sides was opened Tuesday by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım.
The Avrasya (Eurasia) Tunnel was constructed underneath the Bosporus by a Turkish-South Korean joint venture and cost $1.3 billion.
In October 2013 Turkey opened the Marmaray rail tunnel underneath the Bosporus, the first link beneath the waters that divide Europe and Asia.
The Avrasya Tunnel is the first tunnel for cars underneath the Bosporus and aims to relieve congestion in the traffic-clogged Turkish mega city.