Turkey has announced a further route in a new channel that would reduce maritime traffic on the now saturated Bosphorus Strait and turn the European half of Istanbul into an island.
Work on the 45 km long Kanal Istanbul, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara to the west of the Bosphorus, will begin this year, said Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan, adding that it is part of the most expensive major works project of the Turkey.
The Bosphorus is one of the busiest waterways in the world with 42.000 ships transiting in 2016, compared to 16.800 that transited the Suez Canal the same year.
It is the only maritime outlet to the oceans for Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Georgia, and for the Russian ports of the Black Sea.
With new urban planning projects on the canal and logistics centers to be built in the Black Sea, Kanal Istanbul will be Turkey's most expensive project, Arslan said.
Without specifying the exact cost, he added that the project would be financed through public and private partnerships.
The new canal would not be subject to the Montreux conventions on the use of the strait that guarantees free passage for civilian ships during peacetime, he said, which means Turkey could tax ships that want to transit the new canal.
It will run from the Durusu region on the Black Sea coast of Istanbul to Kucukcekmece Lake on the Sea of Marmara. Documents from the Turkish Ministry of Environment showed that the canal will be 25 meters (82 feet) wide and 250-1.000 meters (825-3.300 feet) wide, depending on where the basins are located.
Kanal Istanbul will also be close to numerous projects in the north of Istanbul led by President Tayyip Erdogan's AK party government, including the third Bosphorus bridge, inaugurated in 2016, and the third airport of the city under construction.
The land that will be excavated for the canal project will be used for agriculture as well as for artificial islands and ports to be built in the Sea of Marmara, Arslan said.
The plan has, however, many critics and Erdogan himself called it "a crazy project" when he first mentioned it in 2011. Environmentalists say it would pave the way for further developments in the north of the city, carrying out the destruction. of forests.
A report assessing the environmental impact of the project, which is required by the government before construction begins, is currently being compiled, the environment ministry said.
The engineers from the Istanbul geology chamber said that the initial presentation of the environmental impact report does not take into account several factors that make the project unsustainable.
The project has the potential to seriously affect the climate and mineral and nutrient balance in the Black Sea and surrounding areas and to reduce oxygen levels in the Sea of Marmara.
Construction was a key factor in the economy under the AK Party. Government critics say the legal framework surrounding the construction sector has been repeatedly watered down, creating loopholes for investors who can take advantage of this opportunity to get rich.