The Istanbul Canal, an under-construction shipping route running parallel to the strategically critical Bosphorus Strait, is fast gaining prominence as a major divisive issue in Turkey.
About
The Istanbul Canal is a project for the artificial sea-level waterway, which is planned by Turkey on East Thrace, connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and thus to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
Istanbul Canal would bisect the current European side of Istanbul and thus form an island between Asia and Europe. The new waterway would bypass the current Bosporus.
The canal aims to minimize shipping traffic in the Bosporus.
It is projected to have a capacity of 160 vessel transits a day.