Turkish Opposition Warns Foreign Countries Against Joining Istanbul Canal Project

The leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party of Turkey, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, disclosed on Thursday that he had sent letters to foreign ambassadors warning against their countries' participation in the Istanbul Canal project

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2021) The leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party of Turkey, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, disclosed on Thursday that he had sent letters to foreign ambassadors warning against their countries' participation in the Istanbul Canal project.

"We do not want to allow the plundering of Istanbul. We also do not want foreigners to become plundering accomplices. I wrote a letter not only to our businessmen, but also to foreign ambassadors that if any company, businessman or contractor enters the building of the Istanbul Canal from their countries, they will pay a heavy price for it," Kilicdaroglu said while delivering a speech in the Turkish parliament.

Late in June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the opening ceremony of the Istanbul Canal construction, which will run in parallel with the Bosphorus and connect the Black and Marmara seas.

Erdogan's mega-project, widely opposed by the opposition, may become the largest infrastructure initiative in the Turkish history. The canal causes controversy at home and abroad both because of the economic practicability and possible problems with the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits.