Türkiye is determined to construct a canal project in Istanbul intended to relieve pressure on the busy Bosporus, when the time is right and financing is secured, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said on Thursday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan laid the foundation for the megaproject in the summer of 2021, aiming to connect the Black Sea, north of Istanbul, to the Marmara Sea to the south.
"We have not abandoned the Kanal Istanbul project. It is not on our agenda today, but when the day comes, the right financing is found, we will definitely do it," Uraloğlu said on Thursday, answering questions from journalists.
"We are talking about a project worth between $15 billion and $20 billion. We will build the Kanal Istanbul at the right time and with the right financial means; we have not given up. We have also taken into account the views of our citizens. This is not a new topic of discussion," Anadolu Agency (AA) quoted him as saying.
He was speaking a day after Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum said the project was not currently on the government's agenda.
The canal has been brought back to the spotlight recently after media reports emerged that Erdoğan and top officials visited the proposed construction site.
Uraloğlu said on Thursday that the canal, planned to be built on Istanbul's European side, is "a need for Türkiye."
When asked about the Kanal Istanbul project, he said: "We are consulting with the relevant institutions, especially our Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, on this process. Accordingly, we make statements from time to time."
The interest in the project revived recently amid claims from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which insisted that political motivations were behind the new wave of detentions, a part of the ongoing corruption probe into CHP-run Istanbul Municipality (IBB) and claimed it was an attempt to stifle opposition to the government’s Kanal Istanbul project.
However, media reports revealed that the IBB targeted a housing project in Arnavutköy, an Istanbul district where the planned canal is supposed to stretch. The Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (ISKI) first threatened to cut off water to the project and then to demolish the project, which was undertaken by the government’s Housing Development Administration (TOKI).
The project in Arnavutköy was openly targeted by CHP leader Özgür Özel in a recent speech, who claimed it was linked to the Kanal Istanbul project and would be “sold to rich Arabs.” The government denied the allegations and proved that the project was indeed part of a nationwide housing campaign for low-income families.
On Thursday, the government's Department for Combating Disinformation (DMM) also clarified that the claims related to the canal, made by two ministers, Kurum and Uraloğlu, who were said to have made "contradictory" statements, are "not true," calling it "manipulation."
The directorate stated that there was no statement by Kurum indicating that the Kanal Istanbul Project has been abandoned.
"There is currently no issue regarding Kanal Istanbul on our agenda. We have said it before, too. Creating polemics over Kanal Istanbul and trying to drag the issue to other areas will remain unrequited in the eyes of our nation," it quoted the minister as saying.
