ERDOGAN LAUNCHES CONSTRUCTION OF ISTANBUL CANAL

Sat 26 June 2021:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday launched the construction of the Istanbul Canal that will run parallel to the Bosporus Strait and connect the Black and Marmara seas.

The president took part in the official ceremony by pushing a symbolic button and thus inaugurating the project.

The construction will begin with one of the six bridges across the future canal.

“Canal Istanbul is an essential project to protect the historical and cultural fabric of the Bosphorus strait,” he said, adding: “We consider Canal Istanbul a project to save the future of Istanbul.”

The canal – to be built on the Turkish metropolis’ European side – will be around 45 kilometers (28 miles) long, 275 meters (902 feet) wide, and 20.75 m (68 ft.) deep.

“Today, we are turning a new page in Turkey’s development by laying the first stone in the construction of the first bridge across the Istanbul Canal, which will be 45 kilometers [28 miles] in length, at least 275 meters [902 feet] wide and 21 meters deep,” Erdogan said during the ceremony, broadcast on Twitter.

The project’s total cost is projected at 75 billion Turkish liras ($8.6 billion) and is expected to be built under public-private cooperation. At the meeting where Erdogan announced the project, he said it would be financed entirely through national resources.

Following a tender process, the project is expected to be completed in seven years, with around one-and-half-years preparatory work and five-and-half years of construction.

Six bridges will be built over the canal, transforming Istanbul into a city with two seas.

Cities boasting some 250,000 residences are planned to be built on both sides of the canal.

The mega-project, meant to prevent risks posed by vessels carrying dangerous shipments through the Bosphorus Strait, was approved by the country’s Environment and Urbanization Ministry.

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