Turkey will build a new canal connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean, parallel to the Bosphorus strait, in order to cut traffic in one of the world's busiest and most urban shipping lanes, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Channel Istanbul—which Mr. Erdogan compared to the Panama canal—would run from the Black Sea to the Maramara Sea, mirroring the course of the Bosphorus on Istanbul's European side. The Maramara Sea then leads into the Aegean and Mediterranean.
Mr. Erdogan gave no estimate of the new canal's cost, but he said investors would be attracted by the inclusion of a new airport and two new residential areas in the project. A study of the terrain will take two years to complete and will determine the route of the canal, which would be 25 meters deep and 45-50 kilometers long, he said.
The Turkish prime minister unveiled the project at a campaign rally in Istanbul, ahead of parliamentary elections on June 12. Opinion polls suggest the ruling Justice and Development party will win a third term in office.
"We are today starting to work on one of the biggest projects of the century, which leaves behind the Panama, the Suez and—in Greece—the Corinth canals," Mr. Erdogan said. The Panama canal is 77 kilometers long, the Suez canal 80 kilometers, and the Corinth canal six kilometers.
Describing the plan as a "dream" Turkish and Ottoman leaders had ruminated over for centuries, Mr. Erdogan said the project would enhance the city and move the danger of shipping accidents away from the densely populated center. The canal would be able to accommodate the world's largest ships, he said.
Istanbul, a city of at least 13.5 million people, is split in two by the Bosphorus, with the eastern shore in Asia and the Western in continental Europe. The straight is just 750 meters across at its narrowest point and includes numerous sharp turns that have led to catastrophic accidents over the years.
More than 50,000 ships pass through the strait every year, some 8000 of them oil tankers. Turkey's government has been pushing for construction of an overland pipeline that would bypass the straight and reduce the most dangerous traffic, but has had difficulty persuading oil companies to commit to use the pipe. That's because the need to unload and load the oil an additional time would make the route expensive, according to oil company officials. Meanwhile, Turkey's control over the strait is limited by the 1936 Montreux Convention, which guarantees passage to civilian traffic during peacetime.
Channel Istanbul—which Mr. Erdogan compared to the Panama canal—would run from the Black Sea to the Maramara Sea, mirroring the course of the Bosphorus on Istanbul's European side. The Maramara Sea then leads into the Aegean and Mediterranean.
Mr. Erdogan gave no estimate of the new canal's cost, but he said investors would be attracted by the inclusion of a new airport and two new residential areas in the project. A study of the terrain will take two years to complete and will determine the route of the canal, which would be 25 meters deep and 45-50 kilometers long, he said.
The Turkish prime minister unveiled the project at a campaign rally in Istanbul, ahead of parliamentary elections on June 12. Opinion polls suggest the ruling Justice and Development party will win a third term in office.
"We are today starting to work on one of the biggest projects of the century, which leaves behind the Panama, the Suez and—in Greece—the Corinth canals," Mr. Erdogan said. The Panama canal is 77 kilometers long, the Suez canal 80 kilometers, and the Corinth canal six kilometers.
Describing the plan as a "dream" Turkish and Ottoman leaders had ruminated over for centuries, Mr. Erdogan said the project would enhance the city and move the danger of shipping accidents away from the densely populated center. The canal would be able to accommodate the world's largest ships, he said.
Istanbul, a city of at least 13.5 million people, is split in two by the Bosphorus, with the eastern shore in Asia and the Western in continental Europe. The straight is just 750 meters across at its narrowest point and includes numerous sharp turns that have led to catastrophic accidents over the years.
More than 50,000 ships pass through the strait every year, some 8000 of them oil tankers. Turkey's government has been pushing for construction of an overland pipeline that would bypass the straight and reduce the most dangerous traffic, but has had difficulty persuading oil companies to commit to use the pipe. That's because the need to unload and load the oil an additional time would make the route expensive, according to oil company officials. Meanwhile, Turkey's control over the strait is limited by the 1936 Montreux Convention, which guarantees passage to civilian traffic during peacetime.