The Turkish authorities have decided to postpone the opening of the Canakkale 1915 Bridge from February 28 to March 18, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on his Twitter page on February 20.

“At the request of our citizens, we decided to open our Canakkale 1915 Bridge on March 18, on the anniversary of our Canakkale Victory,” Erdogan said.

He noted that the construction of the bridge was completed 1.5 years ahead of schedule. Earlier, Erdogan said that the new bridge has already become “one of the symbols” of Turkey.

It should be noted that the new Turkish bridge across the Dardanelles is named after the Battle of Gallipoli, when the troops of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War were able to defeat the armies of the Entente, primarily the British Empire, who were striving to capture the Black Sea straits.

The new suspension bridge contains six traffic lanes. No train traffic is expected. The construction received the world’s largest bridge span, its length is 2023 meters.