Turkish Govt Targets Istanbul Mayor for Opposing Showpiece Canal

Turkish Govt Targets Istanbul Mayor for Opposing Showpiece Canal
Hamdi Firat Buyuk November 17, 2020 https://balkaninsight.com/2020/11/17/turkish-govt-targets-istanbul-mayor...

The Turkish authorities launched an investigation into the mayor of Istanbul for allegedly misusing public money in his campaign against the central government’s showpiece project to build a canal through the city.

The Turkish Interior Ministry said on Monday that it has launched an investigation into Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, because of his campaign against the Kanal Istanbul Project, a major infrastructure development that critics claim involves serious environmental risks.

The ministry said that the mayor is accused of illegally spending public money on banners in Istanbul with the slogans “Either Kanal or Istanbul” and “Who needs Kanal Istanbul?”

“Public money cannot be spent to oppose a state project,” the ministry said.

But Imamoglu told media on Monday that the Kanal Istanbul Project was a government project and denied improperly spending funds.

“For me, Kanal Istanbul is not a state project,” he said.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu pushed back against Imamoglu’s statement.

“When the government starts a project, it becomes a state project. I approved the investigation against Imamoglu,” Soylu said in a TV interview late Monday.

Imamoglu, opposition parties and environmental activists and experts oppose the project because they claim it will have disastrous effects on Istanbul’s environment and water reserves.

“We are completely against the Kanal Istanbul Project. We have to secure the future of life and the environment in Istanbul. Kanal Istanbul is a pointless and disastrous project for the environment,” the Istanbul municpality told BIRN in a written statement.

The proposed canal is set to be 43 kilometres long and 400 metres wide and will connect the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara.

Its construction would involve the destruction of a natural lagoon and a reservoir which is one of the city’s largest water reserves.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan however has described the project as his “dream”.

The project was originally announced in 2011 but delayed several times because of financial issues and environmental problems.

It has a price tag of $25 billion but critics say the cost will be much higher because of the additional roads, bridges and infrastructure works that are needed. The project is planned to be complete in 2026.

As the joint candidate of the opposition, Imamoglu was elected mayor of Istanbul in last year’s local elections in which Erdogan lost almost all major Turkish cities including Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Izmir, Adana and Mersin.

Since then, the popular Imamoglu has been seen as the most likely rival to Erdogan at the next elections.