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Istanbul’s mayor faces off with Erdogan over 'crazy' canal

Ekrem Imamoglu, who wrested control of Turkey’s largest city from the ruling party in a contentious election this year, calls plans to build a waterway between Istanbul’s two seas a "disaster."
Demonstrators shout slogans during a prototest against a massive canal project in Istanbul, Turkey, December 27, 2019. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir - RC2Q3E9MEY9N

ISTANBUL — Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s new mayor, has squared off against his powerful rival President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over government plans to build a canal that would render half the city into an island, warning the project will wreak ecological and economic devastation.

Canal Istanbul, an artificial waterway that would link the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara to bypass the vulnerable Bosporus Strait, is Erdogan’s signature project, which he acknowledged was “crazy” when he unveiled it in 2011. Government estimates of the cost are between $13 billion and $20 billion, while some economists estimate the final price tag is likely to be twice as high.

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