CAMLIBEL, Cyprus (AP) — Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has inaugurated an undersea fresh water pipeline linking Turkey with the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of ethnically divided Cyprus.

Erdogan and other officials on Saturday opened a valve allowing water to flow through the 107-kilometer (66.5-mile) pipeline at a ceremony at the Mediterranean town of Anamur, before attending a second ceremony in Cyprus marking the water's arrival.

Turkey says the water — aimed to meet the north's irrigation and drinking water needs for the next half century — could be shared with the Greek Cypriots once the island is reunified.

Greek Cypriots have decried project as a Turkish ploy to further strengthen its grip on the islands north.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974.