The Cankurtaran Tunnel (), Hopa Cankurtaran Tunnel, is a road

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

located in

Artvin Province Artvin Province (; Armenian language, Armenian: Արտվինի նահանգ ''Artvini nahang''; ka, , ''Artvinis p'rovintsia''; Laz language, Laz: ართვინიშ დობადონა ''Artvinish dobadona;'') is a Provinces of Turke ...

. It forms part of the

Hopa Hopa ( Laz and , Hamshen ) is a town in Artvin Province in northeast Turkey. It is located on the eastern Turkish Black Sea coast about from the city of Artvin and 18 kilometres from the border with Georgia. It is the seat of Hopa District.

Borçka Borçka () is a town in Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, on the border with Georgia. It is the seat of Borçka District.

Highway in northeastern Turkey. Situated on the Mount Cankurtaran of

Pontic Mountains The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps (, meaning 'North Anatolian Mountains'), form a mountain range in northern Anatolia, Turkey. They are also known as the "Parhar Mountains" in the local Turkish and Pontic Greek languages. The term ''Parhar'' ...

between the village Çavuşlu in the

district to the west and the village of Çifteköprü in the

Borçka Borçka () is a town in Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, on the border with Georgia. It is the seat of Borçka District.

district to the east, it is a -long twin-tube tunnel carrying two lanes of traffic in each direction. The cost of the construction was estimated to be 100 million. It was built to bypass the Cankurtaran Pass at elevation with many

hairpin turn A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal ha ...

s, thus improving the connection between the Black Sea Region and

Eastern Anatolia Region The Eastern Anatolia region () is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ. It is bordered by the Black Sea Region and Georgia in th ...

, and thus to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern countries. The tunnel also eliminates weather-induced traffic congestion due to heavy snow fall, icing and fog. Finally, it shortened the existing route by about . The groundbreaking ceremony took place in the presence of Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication

Binali Yıldırım Binali Yıldırım (; born 20 December 1955) is a Turkish politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 27th and last prime minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He w ...

on 29 October 2010, the

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially calle ...

. The breakthrough was achieved in presence of Minister of Customs and Trade Hayati Yazıcı on 16 March 2014; the tunnel was opened to traffic on 1 March 2018 by Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication Ahmet Arslan.

References

Road tunnels in Turkey Transport in Artvin Province Hopa District Borçka District {{Turkey-transport-stub