Even though no tender date has been set for the construction of Turkey’s controversial Canal Istanbul, a project touted as "crazy" by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2011, the land buying spree in Istanbul’s northern regions has already turned into a race.
Ignoring grave urban and environmental concerns mainly voiced by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a member of the main opposition, the Turkish government keeps the hype alive as a tool of political propaganda. The project’s finances and its business model remain a mystery, but work on rezoning and land speculation in the vicinity of the artificial waterway remain in full swing.