Istanbul Canal
 
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Location of the Istanbul Canal |
The Istanbul-channel ( Turkish channel İstanbul ) is one of the Turkish Government for the shipping scheduled channel , in parallel to the Bosporus run and the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara to connect. The canal is expected to run in the western part of Istanbul and be completed in 2023 on the centenary of Turkey's founding.
Historical projects
Various rulers and politicians had the idea of creating a waterway parallel to the Bosporus in the past. Such considerations became known both at the time of the Ottoman Empire and most recently by Bülent Ecevit in 1994.
Justification and planning
While in 1936 an average of 13 ships per day crossed the Bosphorus, this number has risen to an average of 255 ships per day in 2012. The size of the ships and thus the amount of cargo carried has increased dramatically during this time, as has the population of Istanbul (from 750,000 to 13.9 million inhabitants).
Many major ship accidents have occurred on the Bosporus. Some of them were:
- On December 14, 1960, the oil tankers Peter Verovitz ( Yugoslavia ) and World Harmony ( Greece ) collided. There were 20 deaths and large amounts of oil leaked.
- On March 1, 1966, two Soviet oil tankers ( Lutsk and Kransky ) collided . Large amounts of oil leaked, causing the Kadıköy ferry and Kadıköy pier, the main pier in the Asian part of Istanbul , to fire .
- On July 1, 1970, the Italian oil tanker Ancona collided with a building on the coast. Five people were killed.
- On April 7, 2018, the freighter Vitaspirit collided with the shore and caused severe damage to the historic wooden villa Hekimbasi Salih Efendi .
At the latest after the Independența oil tanker accident on November 15, 1979, it became clear that the high volume of shipping traffic and the resulting dangers for Istanbul could hardly be borne. After this accident, the tanker and the oil spill in front of the Haydarpaşa train station continued to burn for almost a month, leaving 51 dead. The fairway through the Bosporus was initially closed and later hampered for years by the wreck .
In addition, many smaller ship accidents occur on the Bosporus every year.
On April 27, 2011, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the intention to connect the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea by means of a shipping canal running parallel to the Bosphorus. The new canal should be around 40 to 50 km long. The width of 150 m and depth of 25 m should allow all ships to pass through. At Karaburun the waterway is supposed to flow into the Black Sea.
Project progress
The preliminary and feasibility studies began in April 2011.
On December 23, 2019, the Turkish Ministry of the Environment and Urban Development concluded the environmental impact assessment with a positive result. Therefore, according to Erdogan, the tender for the construction work will begin "soon". On the same day, the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu , announced a cooperation agreement between the state and the city that had been signed before his time. In a speech broadcast on December 25th, he criticized the burden on nature and the population as well as the enormous costs.
costs
The cost of the project was estimated at eight to ten billion US dollars , and there is now talk of up to 14 billion euros . A public-private partnership is being discussed for the implementation of the project . An unnamed Russian company could finance the construction and receive the passage fees for a period of time.
criticism
Criticism comes on the one hand from environmentalists and on the other hand from politicians who fear excessive control of shipping through Turkey. Turkish authorities could use loopholes in the Montreux Treaty to force shipping to use the new chargeable canal. Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that the construction of the new canal will change the status quo created, among other things, by the Treaty of Montreux with regard to the transit of military equipment and warships in the entire Black Sea region and the adjacent Caucasus region.
Web link
- Mirjam Schmitt ( dpa ): “Istanbul Canal” poses enormous risks. Erdogan's prestige project. In: n-tv.de . ntv Nachrichtenfernsehen GmbH, May 1, 2020 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ euronews: Turkey is planning a mega-canal on the Bosporus. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ↑ a b Süddeutsche: Second Bosporus for ships. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ^ Berliner Zeitung: A second Bosporus. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ↑ derStandard: The "crazy" plan with the canal. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ↑ Boğazlardan geçen gemi sayısı azaldı, taşınan yük arttı. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 16, 2013 ; Retrieved August 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Turkish).
- ↑ İstanbul ve Çanakkale Boğazlarında Meydana Gelmiş En Büyük Deniz Kazaları (The biggest shipwrecks on the Bosporus and the Dardanelles) ( Memento from March 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ ZDF: Collision on the Bosporus - cargo ship crashes into building. Retrieved June 16, 2018 .
- ^ Ministry of Shipwreck Statistics. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 8, 2013 ; Retrieved August 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Turkish).
- ↑ a b n-tv: Erdogan is planning the second Bosporus. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ↑ a b Tagesschau: Berlin messes up, Istanbul shows off. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013 ; Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ^ T-Online: Turkey wants to dig the second Bosporus for ships. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ↑ Handelsblatt: Erdogan wants to dig the second Bosporus for ships. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ↑ RiaNovosti: Mega-Project: Turkey is planning the second Bosporus. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ↑ ANSAmed: Works on Bosphorous mega-canal go ahead from April. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ↑ orf.at: Istanbul Canal: City chief stands up to Erdogan. Retrieved December 26, 2019 .
- ↑ Kleine Zeitung online: Istanbul's mayor rejects Erdogan's canal plans. Retrieved December 26, 2019 .
- ↑ dpcmagazine.com: Turkey mulls fee rise for Bosporus. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 15, 2012 ; Retrieved January 24, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ treehugger.com: Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's 'Crazy Project' for Istanbul: Building a Second Strait. Retrieved January 24, 2013 .
- ↑ spiegel.de: Erdogan is promoting its own “Panama Canal”. Retrieved June 16, 2018 .
- ↑ a b todayszaman.com: İstanbul Canal project to open debate on Montreux Convention. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 30, 2011 ; Retrieved January 24, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ hurriyetdailynews.com: russia-urges-turkey-to-preserve-montreux-treaty. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 2, 2016 ; accessed on January 2, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Gheorgita Vlad, Romanian Army: Geopolitical Interests in the Black Sea / Caspian region. Retrieved January 3, 2016 .
