The government has put the lucrative Bosphorus bridges and major state highways back on sale 14 years after cancelling a similar tender. The move comes as medium-term plans include significantly higher privatization revenue in coming years.
The decision was formalized through a presidential decree on Sept. 5, signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The decree allows operating rights for two Bosphorus bridges and multiple highways to be transferred to the private sector for up to 30 years, with a completion deadline set for the end of 2031. It emphasizes that the state will retain ownership.
BIG CONTRAST TO 2012
The move marks a significant policy shift from the first attempt. In 2012, a consortium comprising Koç Holding, UEM Group, and Gözde Girişim won a privatization tender for the same assets with a $5.72 billion bid. However, then-Prime Minister Erdoğan rejected the price as insufficient.
At the time, alternative valuations put the operating rights for 25 years at $8 billion to $12 billion, leading Erdoğan to set $7 billion as the absolute minimum acceptable offer.
'If I give it away for this price, I would be committing treason against my country and my people,' he said at the time. The tender was officially annulled in February 2013.
Today, state expectations are framed against revised forecasts in the Medium-Term Program (OVP). The government lowered this year's privatization revenue target to 107.3 billion liras ($2.21 billion) but raised future targets to 183 billion liras ($3.77 billion) for 2027, 163.5 billion liras ($3.37 billion) for 2028, and 143 billion liras ($2.94 billion) for 2029.
According to opposition Yeni Party lawmaker Deniz Yavuzyılmaz, toll revenue from the two bridges and state highways reached approximately $600 million in 2025. However, the Privatization Authority said half of that was spent on maintenance.
ŞİMŞEK’S CONNECTION TO POSSIBLE BIDDERS
Preparations for the tender have accelerated throughout 2026. Advisers from Ernst & Young (EY) and Turkish privatization officials traveled to Portugal in April to meet with highway operator Brisa. In July, media reports said that French infrastructure investment firm Meridiam SAS was considering a consortium with Turkish contractor Makyol to bid on the assets.
Journalist Çiğdem Toker wrote that Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek served as a member of Meridiam's Supervisory Board between 2022 and 2023. She recalled that Şimşek stepped down from the company prior to assuming his ministerial post following the 2023 elections.
'Time will tell whether a foreign company — where the Finance Minister previously served in a senior professional capacity — will officially express interest in the tender for the transfer of operating rights for bridges and highways in a country whose economy is managed by that very former executive, and if so, what impact this would have on the public interest,' she said.
OPPOSITION THREATENS RE-NATIONALIZATION
The plan faced sharp pushback. Main opposition leader Özgür Özel said the sale will dramatically increase costs for commuters.
'Cheap highways will become five times more expensive, and the first and second bridges in Istanbul will get at least twice as expensive,' said Yeni Party Chair Özel, who first spoke about the planned privatization documents in February 2026. 'They are killing the goose that lays the golden egg.'
Özel directly warned potential international and domestic bidders against participating in the upcoming tenders.
'I am telling those who enter this tender: we will come to power next year,' Özel said. 'We will nationalize all these highways.'
