An İstanbul court has canceled ministry-approved development plans for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “Kanal İstanbul” project, a proposed artificial sea-level waterway in İstanbul, the mayor of İstanbul announced.
The canal, which Erdoğan calls his “crazy project,” would have bisected the European side of İstanbul to connect the Black Sea to the Marmara and Mediterranean seas.
İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on Wednesday announced the development on his X account, saying, “İstanbulites objected to it, and the plans for Kanal İstanbul have been canceled.”
İstanbullular itiraz etti, Kanal İstanbul planları iptal edildi.
Çevre, Şehircilik ve İklim Değişikliği Bakanlığı'nın hazırladığı, şehrimize milyonlarca yeni nüfus getirecek, doğasını ve su kaynaklarını yok edecek plana yapılan itirazları 11. İdare Mahkemesi haklı buldu.
— Ekrem İmamoğlu (@ekrem_imamoglu) February 14, 2024
The mayor said the İstanbul 11th Administrative Court sided with objections against the plan approved by the Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Ministry that would “bring millions of new residents to our city and destroy its nature and water resources.”
The lawsuit against the development plan, which was approved by the ministry in July 2021 and opened to public comment for a month, was filed by the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB).
The İBB requested the cancellation of the proposed changes to the plan, arguing they were unjust and contrary to the law. The municipality’s objections were based on the argument that the proposed changes were contrary to the public interest and posed irreparable harm to vital agricultural lands, forest areas and water basins crucial for the city’s future.
The court also stated that the ministry’s decision to reject the municipality’s objections regarding the zoning plan prior to the lawsuit was not in accordance with the law.
Construction of the canal started on June 26, 2021.
While Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government claim the channel is necessary for the safety of İstanbul’s Bosporus Strait, which sees busy marine traffic, critics of the project argue it is aimed at generating money for pro-AKP circles and will damage nature and could even worsen the earthquake risk in the city of more than 15 million.
İmamoğlu, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who has been an outspoken critic of the controversial project, was investigated in late 2020 for erecting billboards across İstanbul that said, “Either Kanal or İstanbul? Who needs Kanal İstanbul?” as part of a municipal campaign against the proposed canal.
In February 2021 the İBB released a video game that warned against the construction of the canal, explaining the damage it could cause.
“Farmlands destroyed,” “Unemployment surges,” “Water resources lost” and “Balance of nature disturbed” were some of the warnings included in the video game, in which “Game over” appears after the construction of the canal is completed, despite the warnings.
The plans to construct the canal also opened up a debate about Turkey’s commitment to the 1936 Montreux Convention, which is aimed at demilitarizing the Black Sea by setting strict commercial and naval rules on passage through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits leading to the Mediterranean.