Erdogan inaugurates contentious canal project; Istanbul Mayor has 'nightmares' about it

Amid concerns over the environmental and economic effects, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently inaugurated the most ambitious megaproject called the Canal Istanbul project. According to ANI, the project involves the digging of an artificial 45-kilometre canal, parallel to the Bosporus, linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. The canal is expected to be used by 160 vessels a day, supposedly to ease congestion and diminish the risk of accidents in the Bosporus strait, bridges, businesses, housing districts, a marina and an artificial lake. 

While speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony at Sazlidere dam, Erdogan said that the government is opening a new page in the history of the Turkish Republic with the canal project. The country aims to complete the project at an estimated cost of 15 billion dollars in six years’ time. The Turkish President informed the canal will ensure the safety of life and property of Istanbul’s Bosphorus. 

Erdogan said, “We regard Canal Istanbul as a project to save the future of Istanbul... to ensure the safety of life and property of Istanbul's Bosphorus and the citizens around it”. 

He added that projections show that "the number ships passing through Bosporus will rise from the current yearly average of 45,000 ships to 78,000 in 2050... The passage of each large ship poses a danger to the city. In the Bosporus, there is heavy traffic of ships of all classes and capacities, both in North-South and East-West directions”. 

Earlier, in an interview with Hurriyet newspaper, Minister of Transport Adil Karaismailoglu also boasted that the Canal Istanbul Project will increase Turkey's effectiveness in world's trade and bring Turkey to a leading position in world economic corridors. Adil said that the project will leave its mark in history as a “guarantee of the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Turkey”. He added that 500 people will be employed and an economic contribution of 28 billion dollars will be made. 

“Turkey will become a playmaker in global maritime trade,” the minister said. 

Critics of Canal Istanbul project

However, critics of the project say that the canal will cause profound ecological damage in Istanbul, exacerbate the dangers posed by earthquakes, and put the already ailing Turkish economy under the burden of even greater debt. Pinar Giritloglu, vice president of the Chamber of Urban planners, said that through this new canal, the Black Sea and the Marmara waters will get mixed, which will have ecological consequences and imperil an already tenuous water supply and marine life. Some experts have even warned that the Canal poses a grave danger to soil and groundwater salinisation and contamination as it would carry salty water from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. 

Cemal Saydam, professor of environmental engineering, said, "Canal Istanbul is not a project that you can say: "We made a mistake, let's go back. Even if you regret it, there is never any going back. Therefore, this project should not happen”. 

Moreover, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition CHP party, has also vowed to abandon the $15 billion plan if Erdogan is defeated in elections due to be held in 2023. Both he and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is regarded as a potential presidential candidate, have also threatened to blacklist international finance and construction firms involved in the project. Imamoglu even called it a “cement project” and said that he gets “nightmares about it”. 

(With inputs from ANI)