Railway and Highway Works for Kanal Istanbul Started

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu spoke with reporters working in the field of transportation after the event held in Ankara. In his speech, Minister Karaismailoğlu, who spoke about the political agenda, also gave information about the latest projects in the field of transportation.

Expressing that Kanal Istanbul was designed as a completely alternative waterway, Karaismailoğlu said, “We started our transportation routes in the project, our work on highways and railways started. After presenting the alternatives for transportation needs, we will start the excavation process. Kanal Istanbul is a long-term, high-cost project. We continue to work on financial models, especially in order to carry out the project without burdening the general budget. Hopefully, there will be a serious development there," he said.

Reminding that the importance of the Montreux Straits Convention in the Russia-Ukraine War came to the agenda, there were criticisms that Kanal Istanbul would open this contract to discussion, Karaismailoğlu made the following assessment:

“I think the importance of Kanal Istanbul has increased even more. Those who criticize the production of Kanal Istanbul are only trying to slander this business by turning it into a real estate, rent gossip policy. However, we are talking about a global logistics movement here. Because this is an alternative waterway, it is a project that should be. Therefore, showing them as just a rented real estate project to be used as a tool for a gossip policy shows their simplicity. Big, powerful Turkey has to do these big mega projects. The one that will pass under Kanal Istanbul in transportation projects Halkalı-We started the Ispartakule Railway Project, the Sazlıdere Bridge and Başakşehir-Bahçeşehir-Hadımköy Highway Project were started by designing them according to Kanal İstanbul and the works are continuing. Montreux has nothing to do with Kanal Istanbul. Because this contract is an agreement covering both the Bosphorus, the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Dardanelles. Those who pass through Kanal Istanbul will use both the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Dardanelles. So there is nothing here contrary to Montreux.”

Expressing that there is no change in the planned cost of Kanal Istanbul, Karaismailoğlu stated that there are companies in Turkey that are large enough to do this job, and that there is already a race among the world's leading companies in infrastructure to carry out this project.