A major $1.3-billion tunnel linking Istanbul’s European and Asian sides opened Tuesday with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

"I wish the Eurasia Tunnel, which links the continents, to be auspicious for Istanbul and Turkey,” Yildirim said.

Yildirim said the Eurasia Tunnel was one of the country’s biggest projects.

“Mehmet the Conqueror, when he conquered Istanbul, moved ships overland and now his descendants, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his friends, are moving trains and automobiles under the sea,” Yildirim added.

The first road tunnel under the Bosphorus in Turkey's biggest city will significantly reduce travel time between Istanbul's Asian and European sides.

The Eurasia Tunnel was constructed underneath the seabed of the Bosphorus by ATAS, a company whose shares are equally owned by prominent Turkish contractor Yapi Merkezi and a major international company -- SK E&C from South Korea.

Construction of the two-story undersea tunnel took over four years. The total length of the project is 14.6 kilometers (nine miles) and the most crucial part, the Bosphorus crossing, is 5.4km long.

Open only to light vehicles, the tunnel will serve the Kazlicesme-Goztepe route -- where Istanbul vehicle traffic is at its most intense.

Turkey’s transport ministry said that the road toll -- excluding tax -- for automobiles and minibuses would be $4 and $6 respectively.

According to officials, the Eurasia Tunnel is expected provide a solution to Istanbul's traffic problems by decreasing travel times on the route from around 100 minutes to 15 minutes.

The tunnel has also been designed so as to be resilient to earthquakes and tsunamis, and can be used as bunker if necessary.

ATAS has the right to operate the tunnel for around 24 years in accordance with the build-operate-transfer model. At the end of this period, the Eurasia Tunnel will be transferred to the state.

PHOTO CAPTION

People gather to attend opening ceremony of the Eurasia Tunnel, which connects Asian and European sides via a highway tunnel going underneath seabed, in Istanbul, Turkey on December 20, 2016.

AA