Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has gone at great length to defend the project to build a canal bypassing the Bosporus Strait, Canal Istanbul.

But many, both among experts and people, see the project as an attempt to generate revenue by a government that has seen its cashflow reducing dramatically due to a protracted economic crisis.

Thousands of citizens have expressed their concerns about the potential that canal has to harm Istanbul’s environment, particularly its freshwater reserves.

The government says the Canal Istanbul project joining the Black Sea and Marmara Sea will reduce the dangers posed by heavy traffic passing the Bosporus.

TMMOB member architect Mücella Yapıcı spoke to ANF about the Canal Istanbul project.

Noting that the channel Istanbul project announced by Erdoğan in 2011 cannot be understood without the third airport and the third bridge (two other damaging projects), Yapıcı pointed out that Istanbul has frown towards the east and west.

Yapıcı stated that all scientists and professionals agree that the macro form of Istanbul in the east-west direction should not be spoiled.

Emphasizing that an investment causes not only ecological but also economic, legal and democratic damages, Yapıcı stated that the country is under the rule of a single man.

Yapıcı warned that the Canal Istanbul project will be the highest point of destruction to date and added that this project will affect the whole territory. "These projects will result in economic disaster."