Erdoğan signs off on privatising Istanbul’s bridges, motorways and ring roads

Turkey has formally moved to privatise two major Istanbul bridges and a group of motorways and ring roads under a decision signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and published in the Official Gazette.

The programme covers the 15 July Martyrs’ Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, along with the Edirne-Istanbul-Ankara, Pozantı-Tarsus-Mersin, Tarsus-Adana-Gaziantep and Toprakkale-Iskenderun motorways. It also includes the Niğde-Pozantı Motorway, the Gaziantep Ring Road and a section of the Bursa Ring Road between the Çağlayan and Yenişehir junctions.

The decision says operating rights may be transferred as a whole or in separate groups. Possible methods include granting operating rights, leasing, establishing rights over ownership, revenue-sharing arrangements or combining other legally appropriate measures.

CHP Zonguldak lawmaker Deniz Yavuzyılmaz condemned the decision. He said the two bridges and eight state-operated toll motorways generated total profit of $600 million in 2025 and $18 billion over 30 years. He argued that the assets had already been paid for through citizens’ taxes and warned that private operators could repeatedly raise vehicle tolls over a 30-year period. “This is called selling Turkey’s future,” he wrote, calling for the decision to be withdrawn.

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The name for this is selling Turkey’s future.