Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has announced that the municipality will withdraw from a cooperation protocol regarding the controversial Istanbul Canal project.
The move is Imamoglu’s first real challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since taking office in June.
Canal Istanbul, one of Erdogan’s mega projects planned to take seven years and cost 75 billion liras ($12,5 billion), is an artificial sea-level waterway bisecting the European side of Turkey to connect the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and thus to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
According to a report by the Gazete Duvar news portal, Imamoglu, on Monday, declared in a press conference that the municipality informed the Environment Ministry and the Transportation Ministry about its withdrawal of support for a protocol governing the construction of Canal Istanbul.
“We are withdrawing from the Canal Istanbul Cooperation Protocol that was signed by the previous administration,” the mayor said, referring to his predecessor from President Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“We will hold another press conference to further comment on the project on Wednesday,” the mayor announced.
He added that a workshop on the project would be held by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) in the first week of January 2020.
The announcement of Imamoglu as Istanbul’s mayor from Turkey’s main opposition secular Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) came around the same time as the finalization of an environmental impact assessment (CED) report for the project and its release for public review by the Environment and Urbanization Ministry.
“We will oppose their unserious way of handling such a critical matter. It’s that clear. It is either the canal or Istanbul! What CED report are you talking about?” the mayor on Monday slammed AKP officials.
Many experts have criticized the project from different fields. While environmentalists warned that it would damage the ecosystem so much that Istanbul could become uninhabitable, archaeologists argued that it would threaten a top-class Paleolithic site.
Economists also cautioned that the Canal Istanbul project is not financially viable since shippers would be unlikely to pay when there is a free passage a few miles away. However, AKP officials insist there will be enough traffic to make the canal profitable.
During Monday’s conference titled Working for 16 million [Istanbulites], Imamoglu also commented on how the municipality had been run under his predecessor from the ruling AKP before he took control of Turkey’s most significant and wealthiest city six months ago.
Issuing his verdict on the municipality’s situation on Monday, the mayor underlined that the level of mismanagement and overspending they found after coming to the office had surpassed all expectations.
Imamoglu indicated that Istanbul and its subsidiaries had a dept of 14 billion lira, roughly $2 billion when he took over in June. Tax debts paralyzed IBB’s subsidiary companies and leaving them effectively bankrupt, he further stated.
The mayor’s decision to withdraw from the Canal Istanbul Cooperation Protocol, which was his first real challenge to Erdogan and his “crazy projects,” is also expected to serve as a step towards overcoming the financial problems of IBB.
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The post Imamoglu pulls out of Istanbul Canal protocol in first real challenge to Erdogan appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/12/24/imamoglu-pulls-out-of-istanbul-canal-protocol-in-first-real-challenge-to-erdogan/
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