The tender for the construction of a large canal, publicly known as the “crazy project,” set to create a big island on the European side of Istanbul, will be held soon, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said. The preparations for the tender are continuing, and the goal is to hold it in the first quarter of the year, Erdoğan said during an Istanbul meeting on Jan. 12 with businessmen from Anatolia.

A new tunnel under Istanbul’s Bosphorus, a little toward the southern part, was also among the government’s 2015 plans, daily Hürriyet quoted the prime minister as saying yesterday.