For Erodgan’s Istanbul Canal project, critics see few winners

The Istanbul Canal would be the jewel in the crown of ‘megaprojects’ launched under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But the project is deeply controversial, with many questioning the benefits the government says it would bring.

Istanbul, Turkey – Some 500 years ago, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent pondered building a ship canal to bypass the Bosphorus. Now that dream is close to being realised with the latest and most ambitious of Turkey’s “megaprojects” launched under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The plan to construct a 25-mile (40-kilometre) waterway skirting the north of Istanbul to connect the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea has been given the go-ahead, with work scheduled to begin this summer, in mid-2021. With an estimated build time of seven years and a price tag ranging from $9.3bn to $14.6bn, according to government estimates, the Istanbul Canal has been framed by its supporters as a smart investment that will pay returns in the form of shipping revenues and reduced traffic in the Bosphorus Strait.