Erdogan’s ‘crazy’ Kanal Istanbul project moves a step
closer
Bosphorus Strait project would link Black and Marmara
seas with busy canal
Sat, Jun 16,
2018, 06:00
Stephen Starr
in Istanbul
A controversial and long-expected project – of a scale
Turkish president Recep
Tayyip Erdogan admitted is “crazy” and would constitute a “dream” – is to
get off the ground this year.
Kanal
Istanbul, a 45km channel linking the Black and Marmara seas west of
Istanbul, is expected to cost around €12 billion and would be the biggest
project ever attempted in Turkey.
In January, Turkey’s transport minister announced
foundation work would begin this year while, in May, Erdogan said construction
of the canal would be a main priority following next week’s parliamentary and
presidential elections.
The canal is a
huge undertaking. Around 1.5 billion cubic metres of soil will be excavated and
used to build artificial islands. Six thousand workers will be employed in the
construction phase, according to local media.
It would see
the western half of Istanbul, home to some eight million people, become an
island. Several shoreside villages will be built, with sales of the new
properties expected to partly offset the huge cost of construction.
At up to a kilometre wide in places, Kanal Istanbul would
accommodate 160 vessel crossings a day, as well as submarines.
An official starting date has yet to be announced, but at
a press conference in January, Ahmet
Arslan, Turkey’s minister for transport, maritime affairs and
communications, said a route has been finalised.
Critical water source
“We are aiming to finish the tender process with a mixed
model [or] other alternatives of the public-private partnership, and to dig in
this year,” Arslan told a press conference. “We are also planning projects such
as ports, logistic centres and artificial islands to be integrated with the
canal route in this corridor.”
An official at the ministry for transport said no comment
or further details of the project would be forthcoming until after elections on
June 24th.
The Turkish government says the new canal would
remove freight traffic from the Bosphorus, leaving it free for use by commuter
vessels and tour and pleasure crafts.
But unlike the Bosphorus route, merchant ships entering
and exiting the Black Sea via Kanal Istanbul would pay the Turkish authorities
for this service, resulting in a new, long-term income source for Ankara (Last
year, Egypt made €4.8 billion from tariffs on 17,000 Suez Canal crossings).
Income stream
Nor are shipping tariffs likely to be the only new income
stream garnered by the government. Emlak Konut REIT, a real estate organisation
owned by the state and which is the largest housing investor in the country,
plans to build 33 projects along the canal route, according to media reports.
Property websites note that apartment prices in several districts close to the
canal have risen by as much as 56 per cent or €580 per square metre in recent
years.
“When we look at the route of Kanal Istanbul, planned
units and facilities will be placed on areas suitable for agriculture and
stock-raising,” says Emin Koramaz of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers
and Architects, which has dozens of legal complaints pending against the
government. “In other words, the project will destroy the most productive
agricultural areas in the region.”
The Turkish president rarely lets criticism or legal
impediments get in his way. He has made the rolling out of landmark projects –
multibillion euro bridges, airports and hydroelectric dams – a trademark of his
15 years in power.
Kanal Istanbul is bigger than anything attempted before
in Turkey, but few would bet against Erdogan pulling it off.
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