Hello everyone, welcome back again with us in another episode of Military TV.
Today, we are going to discuss about “Controversy over Erdogan's Massive Canal Project”
So sit back, relax and enjoy this video!
At the end of March 2021, Turkey announced the approval of plans for constructing the Istanbul
Canal, which will connect the Black Sea north of Istanbul to the Sea of Marmara to the south,
with an estimated cost of approximately $15 billion. This will be one of the largest
infrastructure projects not only in Turkey but globally too. Canal Istanbul will serve as an
international waterway that will complement Turkey's logistics power and infrastructure
by performing an important function in global maritime trade. The 45 kilometers long or (31
miles) canal is planned to be built west of the city center on the European side of Istanbul,
dividing the city of 15 million residents. With a depth of 20.75 meters, a width of 360
meters on the surface, and 275 meters wide at the bottom, the massive waterway is projected
to have a capacity of 160 vessel transits per day. It is bypassing the Bosphorus waterway,
which is often congested and poses environmental threats to Istanbul.
The Trade Winds has reported that the Istanbul Canal plan is the most ambitious in a series
of infrastructure projects that have transformed the Turkish Straits since President Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party won power in 2003. The Turkish government has affirmed that
the canal would ease shipping traffic on the Bosphorus, one of the busiest maritime passages
in the world, and would prevent accidents similar to the recent incident in Egypt's Suez Canal.
In relation to the huge demand on Turkish waterways, The National Geographic explained:
"Thousands of oil tankers make up part of the 53,000 civilian and military vessels
that transited through the Bosphorus in 2017, compared to around 12,000 ships that transited
the Panama Canal, and 17,000 the Suez Canal." Speaking at the Presidential National Library
in Ankara on April 14, 2021 President Erdoğan claimed that the Istanbul Canal mega-project
would result in greater peace of mind for the Turkish nation. Erdogan is presenting his "Canal
Istanbul" initiative as preserving Istanbul, but environmental and financial concerns are
escalating over the grandiose scheme, dubbed as the construction project of the decade.
However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's project to provide an alternative route to the
Bosporus waterway is becoming increasingly mired in controversy. In freezing rain, thousands of
people in Istanbul queued for hours to sign a petition protesting Erdogan's canal plan.
But Erdogan, who has even called his project "crazy," is hitting back with
glitzy promotional videos that have been blitzing the media to promote the project.
As Erdogan said, Istanbul's Bosporus is under constant threat of accidents
as well as the separate political threat of the Montreux Convention.
For now, the use of those natural waterways is governed by the Montreux Convention,
an international treaty forged in 1936, between the two World Wars, in an attempt
to eliminate volatile tensions over one of the world’s most vital maritime chokepoints.
Alongside his support for the canal construction project,
Mr. Erdogan has signaled that he could dispense with the treaty.
Under the treaty, Turkey agreed to free passage of civilian and trade vessels but a strict control of
warships, especially of outside powers, which has held the peace in the region.
While analysts say that reneging on the agreement is both unlikely and dangerous for Turkey,
the mere suggestion threatens to send ripples of anxiety throughout the region and beyond.
Among the first to object strongly were Turkey’s own retired admirals, when a group of retired
naval officers recently penned an open letter warning about the dangers of scrapping Montreux,
the government responded quickly. Ten of the signatories were detained on April 5,
2021, and another four were ordered to report to the police but were not
jailed in view of their advanced years. Mr. Erdogan accused them of plotting a coup,
a toxic allegation after four years of thousands of detentions and purges since the last failed
coup. Some saw that as a warning to serving officers who might have similar thoughts.
Most analysts said that Mr. Erdogan and his advisers knew the impossibility of changing
the Montreux Convention, but that the veteran politician is using the issue to kick up a storm.
Erdogan is adamant about building a channel parallel to the Bosporus,
and one of the government’s arguments will likely be that this new strait
allows Turkey to have full sovereignty as opposed to the free passage of Montreux.
According to Ms. Aydintasbas, that interpretation is both inaccurate and dangerous,
“Inaccurate because as long as Montreux is there, no vessel is obliged to use the new canal.
Dangerous because it could aggravate the Russians and the international community.”
Furthermore, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu also refuse the megaproject, he has 15 reasons to
oppose Erdoğan's canal project. One of the reasons for his opposition to the project
is a possible water shortage Kanal Istanbul could cause. The mayor also said that data
concerning this is available in reports prepared by State Hydraulic Works and Istanbul Water and
Sewerage Administration. He also stressed that the canal could trigger the risk of an earthquake in
the city and has the economic consequences on citizens as it will lead to more taxes. Among
other reasons, he said that the canal project will violate the Montreux Convention, which "protects
Turkey and countries bordering the Black Sea" and indicates that its impact will violate seven more
international agreements, as we already discussed. It seems as though all of these claimed concerns
stem from political, or possibly religious, disagreements between the people raising them
and Turkey's ruling party. Turkish officials have made clear that all
concerns raised by the oppositionists, and many others beyond them, had been addressed
during more than a decade of deliberation and studies by experts and specialists.
Turkish journalist Hamza Tekin informed that 204 Turkish experts and scientists had worked on the
consultations, planning, and preparations for the project. On 27 March 2018, he said that the
project was put for discussion by 507 public and private institutions, and all of them gave their
opinions about it before giving a final decision recommending carrying out this sovereign project.
Regarding the environment, Tekin added the project will afford 4.67 million square meters of forests,
86.7 square meters of green spaces, parks, squares, and green playgrounds.
Concerning the violation of the Montreux Convention and other international agreements,
Turkish officials made it very clear that the canal project does not aim to
touch the Montreux Convention. However, this convention does not fully address
Turkey's rights relating to its own straits, as well as not respecting its sovereignty.
In conclusion, despite the ongoing controversy regarding this project and the instability
hitting the Turkish lira, the Turkish economy is still stable and not based on stolen wealth or
other nations' property, like many other great powers around the globe. The Istanbul Canal is
part of a series of major projects carried out by the Justice and Development Party,
which turned Turkey from a debtor state to a creditor state, and raised the GDP per capita
from $4,760 in 2003 to $9,126 in 2019. Yet whatever any outside powers have
to say about the issue, it’s already clear that Erdogan’s project is set to become the
next big battle in Turkish politics. The opposition is adamant about fighting it,
and Erdogan seems adamant about building it. Thanks for watching, and as always if you
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