Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey was now classified by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as a high-income country.
Erdogan’s remarks came during a televised speech celebrating the opening of the first tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, which connects Turkey’s West Black Sea region and Central Anatolia.
He noted that the cost of the project, which is the latest in his plan to develop Turkey’s infrastructure, is 718 million Turkish Liras ($205m).
The President said that the number of car tunnels in Turkey increased from 83 in 2002 to 393 with the opening of this one, and the number of airports in the country’s 81 provinces increased from 26 to 55 during the same period.
He added that Turkey proved it was capable of developing in spite of the security challenges it currently faces.
The new tunnel consists of two routes for light vehicles; one is 5,370 meters long and the other is 5,391 meters. It shortens a journey of 35 minutes to eight minutes.
It is also expected to save 345,655 hours, 8,300,000 litres of fuel every year and earn 38,200 Turkish Liras ($10.8m) for the national economy.
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