The  tunnel that will cross the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, is set to be named after a perpetrator of the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocides, or someone responsible for the death of thousands of Armenians and Bulgarians.

The competing names according toare between Kemal Ataturk, the first President of the Turkish Republic, and Abdul Hamid, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire,  reports.

CNN Turk have also revealed that Ataturk is winning the poll so far.

Ataturk was partially responsible for the genocide of millions of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians that began during the First World War.

Abdul Hamid, who struggled to maintain a fracturing empire, saw a pogrom against thousands of Armenians and Bulgarians.