The Kanal Istanbul Project – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

 
Q. For a cargo ship starting from Sevastapol and going to Mumbai, what will be the sequence of water bodies that it will have to cross?

1. Sea of Marmara
2. Arabian sea
3. Straits of Dardanelles
4. Straits of Bosphorus
5.  Black sea

1. 5,4,1,3,2
2. 1,2,3,4,5
3. 2,5,3,4,1
4. 4,3,1,5,2

What is Kanal Istanbul?

• An artificial seaway between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea.
• It is the largest infrastructure project Turkey has ever undertaken
• It is projected to have a capacity of 160 vessel transits a day.
• The canal will be 30 miles (45 kilometers) long and 80 feet (25 meters) deep, and at some points up to one kilometer wide

Why build a new canal?

• The Bosphorus is one of the world’s most important choke points for maritime oil transports, with more than 3 % of global supply – mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea – passing through the 27-kilometre waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
• New canal will mitigate the oil tanker traffic through the Bosphorus as well as constructing new earthquake-resistant residential areas along the channel.

Dangerous straits

• Turkey’s straits are among the most at-risk waterways in the world, according to experts.
• Over 50,000 vessels, including tankers carrying highly flammable oil, pass through the Bosporus, an S-shaped channel with sharp turns and changing currents that pose challenges for vessels and sailors every year.

To compare  –

• 12,000 –  Panama Canal
• 17,000 – Suez Canal.
• 53,000 civilian and military vessels that transited through the Bosporus in 2018.
• Thousands of oil tankers make up a huge part of these.
• Accidents happen in this narrow natural waterway
• From 1953 to 2018, 462 maritime incidents occurred
• The new canal will reduce potential risks posed by ships carrying dangerous materials

Why is the project delayed?

• The Erdogan Government has been postponing the project since 2011(when it was announced) due to financial problems and environmental concerns
• states that Kanal Istanbul will cost 10 billion dollars to build but experts estimate that the final bill will be around 20 billion dollars.
• 30-35 percent of the cost of the project will be compensated from Istanbul Municipality.

Why is Erdogan so keen on this?

• Turkey aims to become a $2 trillion economy
• Around 2 million people are employed in construction in Turkey, which accounts for about 19 percent of the country’s annual economic growth.

What are the issues?

• The canal construction would damage the environment and will increase the risk of massive earthquakes according to ecological experts .
• Istanbul’s water supply will be impacted –
• The Sazlıdere Dam will be entirely uprooted, and smaller streams and underground water tables that feed at least three other lakes in the area could end up being disrupted.

The Montreux Convention

• The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits is a 1936 agreement that gives Turkey control over the Turkish Straits(the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits)
• The treaty regulates the transit of naval warships across the straits.
• The Montreux Convention is a key to the Black Sea’s regional security.
• The Convention gives Turkey full control over the Turkish Straits and guarantees the free passage of civilian vessels in peacetime.
• It restricts the passage of naval ships not belonging to Black Sea states.
• Military vessels are also limited by number, tonnage and their duration of stay in the Black Sea.

The USA connection

• The new canal will be changing the status of Montreux Convention in favour American interests?
• However, applying the Montreux Convention to the new canal would mean amending the convention, a difficult legal process with its own ramifications.
• S will find a way to evade the current status quo through the new canal.

Russia’s Interests

• The Bosphorus is a vital link between Russia’s Black Sea ports and its naval bases in the coastal towns of Latakia and Tartous in Syria.
• The Bosphorus is the only gate for Russian trade ships to the Mediterranean.
• Russian influence, political and economic interests rely on Bosporus.
• Once the Kanal Istanbul come to existence, the influence of Russia in the region and the speed of the Russian trade ships will be doubled.

Q. For a cargo ship starting from Sevastapol and going to Mumbai, what will be the sequence of water bodies that it will have to cross?

1. Sea of Marmara
2. Arabian sea
3. Straits of Dardanelles
4. Straits of Bosphorus
5.  Black sea

1. 5,4,1,3,2
2. 1,2,3,4,5
3. 2,5,3,4,1
4. 4,3,1,5,2

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