Istanbul Canal: Turkey's Plan to Cut the Country In Two: Ukraine Conflict

Welcome to The Primest and today’s video is about Turkey's Plan for a $20BN Istanbul Canal Island Explained Updated 2021

In today's video, we're going to introduce Turkey's Plan for a $20BN Istanbul Canal Island Explained Updated 2021

Istanbul is a major city that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait. This city has remained the capital of three major historical empires i.e., The Romans, Ottomans, and the Byzantine and it is a home for 15 million people and that is one-fifth of Turkey’s population. This major city serves as a centre for Turkey’s trade due to its geo-strategic location and its historical importance and landmarks make it one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world. The city is linked to Bosphorus Strait which is a major trade route that splits Europe from Asia and links the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Every year the strait serves as a trade channel for more than 40,000 vessels making it one of the busiest maritime passages in the world.
Turkey’s revenue because of this important passage is simply negligible. In 1936, Turkey and other countries signed the Montreux Convention courtesy of which the control of the Bosphorus Strait was given to Turkey along with that it also guaranteed free passage for civilian vessels during the times of peace while severely restricting military vessels especially the ones that belonged to the US Navy from using this passage. Due to the large influx, the Bosphorus Strait is becoming congested and to solve this issue Turkey is coming up with a plan as they are interested in making a man-made canal that would not only serve as a passage for more vessels but will also circumvent the Montreux Convention. The proposed canal is projected to have a capacity of 160 vessel transits a day – similar to the current volume of traffic through the Bosporus, where traffic congestion leaves ships queuing for days to transit the strait. This idea is not new as this idea was proposed by Sultan Suleiman I of the Ottoman empire and afterwards many rulers and politicians decided to make this idea a reality, but this idea got dismissed several times due to numerous reasons. Finally in 2011, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is also the current president of Turkey publicly announced this project and over the next few years, the location was selected, planning was completed, and the project received environmental approval. In March 2021, the Turkish government finally approved the project which enabled the construction process to commence. The canal is supposed to be around 45 kilometres long and it will reside 30 kilometres west of the main Bosphorus Strait. The largest ship sizes that can pass through the canal were determined as 275–350 meters long, 49 meters wide, a draft of 17 meters, and an air draft of 58 meters. The Ministry of Transport announced that the project will pass through Lake Küçükçekmece near the Marmara Sea. It will also pass through the districts of Avcılar and Başakşehir before reaching the Black Sea in the Arnavutköy district north of the city. Seven kilometers of the route passes through Küçükçekmece, 3.1 kilometers goes through Avcılar, 6.5 kilometers goes through Başakşehir, and the major 28.6-kilometer part of the route goes through Arnavutköy. This canal will not be a mere route for vessels to transit but it is a part of a major development project as it will be surrounded by residential and commercial areas which will host half a million people. There will a be link between both the ends of the canal via underground tunnels along with six bridges across the canal. These bridges will have enough vertical clearance for vessels to pass without any disturbances and will cost a whopping $1.4 billion. In addition to these bridges and commercial projects, a dedicated container port and numerous marinas are also part of the plan. The canal will also integrate with the new $12 billion international airports and the new Otoyol 7 motorway, making the northwest of Istanbul a major economic hub. Turkey is working on improving its economy and this project is a part of the nationwide infrastructural boom which is an integral part of Turkey’s plan for 2023.
Not only Turkey, but the whole world will benefit from this canal as there will be a lesser strain on the Bosphorus Strait, valuable time will be saved, and the probability of shipping accidents will decrease.
With every megaproject, some compromises are to be made as around 1 million people will face a challenge earning their livelihood during the construction of this canal.

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