[13] In June 2018, iduring the Turkish currency and debt crisis, Bloomberg reported that Astaldi and Webuild,[2] an Italian multinational construction company, were poised to sell their stake in the project for $467 million.

[19] Construction began officially with the laying of the foundation stone in a ceremony held on 29 May 2013, the anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

The ceremony was attended by the then State President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and numerous high-ranking officials.

Work was temporarily halted in July 2013 after it became evident that the site was poorly located,[20] but by then thousands of trees had already been cut down.

On 5 April 2014, a fatal accident occurred during construction of the link road to the bridge on the Asian side of the Bosphorus near Çavuşbaşı, Beykoz.

[27] After the Şahkulu Rebellion (1511) in Anatolia, and the Battle of Chaldiran (1514) in northwestern Iran, during which the Kızılbaş warriors of the Alevis in eastern Anatolia (who adhere to the Shia sect of Islam) sided with Shah Ismail I of Safavid Persia, the victorious Selim I ordered the massacre of the Kızılbaş whom he considered traitors and heretics (see also Ottoman–Safavid relations and Ottoman–Persian Wars).

[29] The efficacy of the proclaimed goal of easing traffic congestion was also challenged, with some claiming that "the project is little more than a contrivance to open for development lands that had been long protected by law".

[34] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım delivered speeches.