Dardanelles

The Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey commanded the entrance to the heavily fortified Dardanelles, the narrow waterway connecting the Aegean Sea with the Black Sea and Russia beyond.

The new bridge allows people to drive across the Dardanelles Strait in about six minutes.

Authorities also suspended maritime traffic through the narrow Dardanelles Strait linking the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, which the water-dropping aircraft were using to refill, the minister said.

The Dardanelles Strait, a narrow and historically significant passage connecting the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea, serves as a vital shipping route for vessels travelling between Europe and Asia.

The Gallipoli campaign aimed to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean Sea to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and knock the Ottomans out of the war.