Turkey Plans For a New Canal Side of Bosphorus

Turkey plans to build a canal connecting the Black and Marmara seas as an alternative to the Bosphorus Strait, which is becoming too full. The waterway, to cut through Istanbul's European side, would be 40-50 kilometres (25-30 miles) long, with a width of about 150 metres (164 yards) and depth of 25 metres, he said. One of the main objectives is to reduce traffic through the Bosphorus and minimise the (environmental) threat. About 140 million tonnes of oil were currently transported through the narrow waterway.

The Bosphorus, which bisects Istanbul, Turkey's largest city with some 13 million people, is the world's fourth busiest waterway, and together with the Dardanelles Strait, connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It is difficult to navigate because of its sinuous geography and treacherous currents.

Turkey has long warned that increase in maritime traffic, coupled with the growing size of oil tankers, make for a disaster waiting to happen, and has promoted oil pipelines through its territory. In 1979 and in 1994, tanker crashes in the Bosphorus, whose shores are dotted with posh waterside villas, restaurants and historic sites, claimed 41 and 28 lives respectively.There is a kind of megalomaniacal desire to transform Istanbul into a large square of cruise tourism and a major financial center with all these large projects.

The new channel would afford the daily passage of up to 160 vessels, including the largest ships, and would have bridges to allow car traffic.Residential and business areas, complete with an airport that would be the third for Istanbul, would be built on the banks of the waterway. Preliminary studies and the drawing up of the project, expected to take two years, will start after the elections.

The announcement of the plan came as part of the prime minister's pledges ahead of parliamentary elections on June 12, in which his party would seek a third straight term in power.Erdogan says that it will be one of the greatest projects of the century and that will outshine the Panama and Suez canals.

Erdogan, who served as mayor of Istanbul between 1994 and 1998, has other ambitious plans to transform the city. In mid-April he announced plans to build two new towns on both sides of the city, while a tender to construct a third bridge over the Bosphorus will be held this summer.

A Turkish-Japanese consortium is currently building a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus to ease the congested traffic in Turkey's greatest city.



Sources:
news.yahoo.com
centredaily.com
Turkofamerica
hurriyetdaily
msnbc.msn.com
thraceshop.co.cc
CatalpaCapital.com