Invest News DetailHurriyet - The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is preparing to launch a process for a wide-scale privatization of bridges and highways. The bidding process is expected to start in May and estimated yield from tenders – the planned Gebze-Izmir highway, which also includes a bridge and sale of existing highways and bridges – is expected to reach $12 billion. The prospective bidders include Macquarie of Australia, Abertis of Spain, Brisa of Portugal, Bouygues of France and Autostrade of Italy. The construction of the Gebze-Izmir highway will be undertaken on the basis of the build-operate-transfer model.