Erdogan's crazy project throws Istanbul into disaster

Istanbul Canal, a $12.6bn mega-infrastructure plan described by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as his “crazy project” when he first mentioned the idea in 2011.

The canal would be a 45km (28 mile) shipping canal joining the Black Sea to the Marmara, running parallel to the Bosphorus strait.

Despite warnings from the mayor of Istanbul and geological experts, of a great environmental cost, including the potential ecological destruction of the Marmara Sea, the crazy project was approved by the environment ministry last month.

The mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is affiliated with Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has been at loggerheads over the project with Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The canal construction would be much more expensive. It also carries health hazards, given the river passes through Turkey’s capital, Ankara, and through polluted industrial areas to reach the Black Sea. The canal would also destroy Küçükçekmece lagoon, which in turn could see hundreds of different species vanish, scientists warn.

Experts believe the new works will significantly disrupt the area’s climate. The construction areas to be formed around it will transform into an urban heat island, changing the temperature, humidity, evaporation and wind regimes in a very short time.

The Turkish government, however, declared it did not foresee any issues with the project. The ministry of environment and urbanisation opened the project to public consultation. More than 70,000 people signed a petition against it. But in January the ministry approved it anyway.