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Can Erdogan push for his 'crazy project' amid economic crisis?

The Turkish government's decision to rezone some agricultural lands in the vicinity of the area where the Canal Istanbul is to be built has rekindled controversy surrounding the project.
A real estate advertising offers apartments with the view on the canal, in the small coastal village of Karaburun, near Istanbul, on June 12, 2018. - Karaburun's residents are waiting if a controversial new canal that will be built for Istanbul will change the region for the good. The ambitious Canal Istanbul project, first announced by Turkish current President in 2011 when he was prime minister, would begin in the Istanbul district of Kucukcekmece and then head toward Sazlidere reservoir before emerging i
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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.

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