President Akinci flew to Istanbul on Thursday evening, as a guest of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to attend the opening ceremony of the 3rd bridge over the Bosphorus strait.
According to a press release by Akinci’s office, the president will return to the TRNC on Saturday night.
Ankara Anatolian news agency reports that the third bridge linking the European and Asian continents in Istanbul will open on Friday during a ceremony that will be attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other guests from abroad.
The bridge, named the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, after the Ottoman sultan famous for his conquests in the eastern world, will have eight road lanes and two rail tracks.
Bosphorus’ third bridge is around 1.4km in length and 59 meters in width, making it the widest in the world.
The bridge, which has a length of 1,408 meters over water, has eight lanes of highway and two lanes of railway. It is the longest suspension bridge in the world that features a rail system. The height of the tower in Garipçe village on Istanbul’s European side is 322 meters and the other tower in the Poyrazköy district on the Asian side is 318 meters high. The bridge is the highest in the world in terms of the height of its abutments.
The rail system that crosses the bridge will run from Edirne to Izmit, has been integrated into the Marmaray and Istanbul Metro and connects with Istanbul Atatürk Airport, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport and the third airport.
Kibris Gazetesi, Daily Sabah
