New Istanbul airport is set to open in 2018: Erdoğan

ANKARA

The first section of Istanbul’s third airport is planned to open in 2018, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, underlining the economic importance of the government-backed construction projects. 

“The construction of our new airport which will be the biggest in the World is going at full speed. We are going to be opening the first stage in the first quarter of 2018,” Erdoğan said in a ceremony of new power-generating ships in Istanbul’s Tuzla on Nov. 13.

Turkey’s Karadeniz Holding has sailed four new 200-megawatt (MW) power-generating ships to Ghana, Indonesia and Myanmar during a ceremony held in Tuzla Sedef Shipyard where also a construction of 14 new power-generating ships have been initiated.

Karadeniz Holding, which develops and operates energy-generating ships dubbed “floating power plants,” have already sent two ships to Ghana and Indonesia in 2015. 

In his speech during the ceremony, Erdoğan underlined the importance of such projects for Turkey’s economy, addressing the big construction projects which Turkey’s government has launched or is planning to launch. 

“We will open the Eurasia Tunnel, which will cross under the Bosphorus next month on Dec. 20. From now on, the double-decked cars can cross from Asia to Europe and vice versa. We launched the third neckless on the Bosphorus, the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge on Aug. 26. Just before the coup, we have opened an important part of the Istanbul – İzmir highway, Osmangazi Bridge,” he said.

Erdoğan also called on the entrepreneurs in Turkey to not hold back their investments, saying that entrepreneurship is essential to Turkey’s economic growth amid the political problems. “Do not postpone your investment, do not hesitate, if you are late, you will regret it,” he said.

“Our [Turkey’s] biggest difference is that we can handle problems which normally could bring any other country to its knees and projects which could make every country prosperous at the same time,” he said. 

“This creates a difference between the image of Turkey seen from outside and the real situation,” he added.