The Turkish government wants to realize a navigation channel artificial parallel to the Strait of the Bosforo



Today the Turkish prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has introduced a project in order to construct artificial to a navigation channel between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, real "second a Bosforo". Its task - the Prime Minister has explained - will be mainly to alleviate the congested marine traffic who journeys in the Strait of the Bosforo, in which passes annually about 50.000 boats: currently - it has remembered - 358.590.000 tons of goods per year cross the Strait, between which about four million tons of gas of which liquified oil, three million tons of chemicals and 139 million tons of hydrocarbons. The city of Istanbul, its inhabitants and its cultural patrimony, so as the natural habitat of the Sea of Marmara - it has emphasized - is put in danger from the transit of 147 million dangerous tons of goods.

The project "Istanbul Channel" is rather challenging: the channel will be along 40-50 kilometers, wide 140-150 meters in surface and about 120 meters to the deep base and 25 meters. The work will be planned in two years and the objective is to realize it within 2023, year in which the centenarian of the foundation of the Turkish Republic with first president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk will celebrate itself. According to the forecasts, the new via of water will allow the every day transit of 130-160 ships.

"In the world - it has emphasized Erdogan - there are many cities crossed from rivers, but the sea passes solo through the city of Istanbul". The Turkish Prime Minister has explained that the project previews to transform in a island the peninsula that accommodates the European part of Istanbul, that is the western area of the metropolis. Erdogan has specified that the greatest ships of the world, that they exceed 250-300mila the gross capacities in tons, will be able to journey in the artificial channel, that will be crossed by railway and street bridges.

The project includes also the realization of a new city and tourist area. Under consideration - the prime Minister has confirmed - there is also the realization of a third city airport in a position to enlivening 60 million passengers per year. The current airports Atatürk and Sabiha Gökcen - Erdogan has said - do not satisfy the today's necessities.

The Prime Minister does not have intentional to supply some forecast of investment explaining that it is necessary not to specify at the moment some economic esteem to the aim to avoid any type of negatività or injustice. However the mayor of the metropolitan city of Istanbul, Kadir Topbas, has said that the project could cost more than ten billions than dollars.

Erdogan has not specified not even as the marine traffic between the Bosforo and the new Istanbul Channel would be shared. We remember that the transit of the ships in the Strait of the Bosforo is ordered by the Convention of Montreaux, undersigned in 1936, that it assigns to Turkey the control of the Strait but sanctions the freedom of transit to the commercial ships behind the acknowledgment of the rights of transit to the Turkish authorities.