Turkey opened one of the world's biggest suspension bridges on Friday, the latest megaproject in a $200 billion building spree that President Tayyip Erdogan hopes will secure his place in history.
The bridge creates a new link across the Bosphorus Strait, which divides Asia and Europe.
Red and white air-balloons flying in the sky next to the Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge in Istanbul during the inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge. Credit: AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSEOZAN KOSE
President Erdogan oversaw a ceremony inaugurating the $3 billion Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, which is touted by its Turko-Italian developers as the world's broadest suspension bridge at 58.4 metres (192 feet) wide.
The toll bridge, spanning 1,408 metres (4,620 feet) over the Bosphorus, is built in the style of New York's Brooklyn Bridge and boasts pylons higher than the Eiffel Tower.
It features 10 lanes, including two rail lines. At 322 metres (1,056 feet), officials say the bridge's towers are also the tallest in the world.
"When man dies, he leaves behind a monument," Erdogan told a crowd of thousands waving Turkish flags at the opening ceremony on the shores of the Bosphorus next to the bridge.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge Credit: AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSEOZAN KOSE
He is seeking to use such projects to drive economic growth and secure a place as Turkey's most significant leader since the modern republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge on the edge of Istanbul is named after a 16th-century Ottoman ruler.
Erdogan's infrastructure drive is transforming Europe's biggest city, which straddles the Bosphorus Strait. In a little more than a decade, Istanbul's skyline has soared, new highways have been built, and the length of the metro tripled.
But Turkey's stellar economic growth has slowed since 2011 and it could face difficulties attracting investment following an attempted coup last month, which led to a purge by the government that has seen tens of thousands of people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education being detained, suspended or placed under investigation.
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The country has also been hit by attacks this summer by Islamic State on a wedding party and Istanbul airport, while the Turkish army's incursion this week in syria to curb jihadist and Kurdish forces has unsettled nerves.
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But Erdogan - whose government announced a $200 billion, decade-long infrastructure investment plan three years ago - has vowed the months of turmoil would not stop planned megaprojects.
The Yavuz Sultan Selim, which runs from the Garipce area on Istanbul's European side to the region of Poyrazkoy on the Asian side, is the third bridge to span the Bosphorus Strait and can withstand winds of 300 km an hour. It ranks among the world's biggest suspension bridges, in terms of width of deck, height of pylons as well as length of span.
A general view shows the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third Bosphorus bridge linking the European and Asian sides of IstanbulCredit: OSMAN ORSAL
It has been built by Italy's Astaldi and Istanbul-based IC Ictas which will jointly operate it for about a decade.
Officials say the bridge will ease congestion in a city of 14 million people, reduce fuel costs and save workers time.
Environmentalists say the project threatens Istanbul's last forestland and will contaminate water supplies. Some economists warn the costs of such large-scale building is unsustainable.
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