İstanbul Mayor says 'only a handful of people' will benefit from Canal İstanbul project

Photo: AA/File

Click to read the minority in Turkish

İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has said that the Canal İstanbul, a planned artificial waterway linking the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, will be destructive for the while benefiting "only a handful of people."

"Canal İstanbul is a dream project for certain companies that will win tenders in this business," İmamoğlu said on Twitter.

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"If it is constructed, our city will lose 29 percent of its water resources, the Sazlıdere Dam will be destroyed, the risk of saltwater mixing in the Terkos Lake water will emerge, groundwater resources will be depleted," he said.

"Who needs Canal İstanbul? İstanbul or a handful of people whose 'order of extravagance' is over?" he asked, adding that the canal will cause 100 billion dollars of extra tax.

"... But we will pay the price for their pleasure, 82 million citizens of the Republic of Turkey will pay. Construction and expropriation costs, which will reach astronomical figures, will put a new tax burden of at least 100 billion dollars on all of us. We will be caught in the middle of new international crises. For this reason, we say that there is no other option; it's either the canal or İstanbul."

While visiting #Istanbul's Yeniköy village last month, I witnessed firsthand how the locals stand in complete objection to the destructive #CanalIstanbul project, which will annihilate their arable lands, water resources and cause a major disruption to their livelihoods. pic.twitter.com/R1eh9xAx5P

— Ekrem İmamoğlu (International) (@imamoglu_int) August 16, 2020

"Investors from half the world away somehow have all the particulars of the proposed #CanalIstanbul project while local villagers residing along the suggested project route report they have been given little to no information.

"While visiting #Istanbul's Yeniköy village last month, I witnessed firsthand how the locals stand in complete objection to the destructive #CanalIstanbul project, which will annihilate their arable lands, water resources and cause a major disruption to their livelihoods."

Municipality's report

İmamoğlu also noted that the municipality also released a report on the possible impact of the canal. According to the report, a significant portion of forestland and agricultural land will be lost if the canal is constructed.

Click on the image to enlarge. (Source: İMM)

(RT/VK)