The government of Turkey under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come up with an ambitious project called Kanal Istanbul. The plan is to construct a 30-mile channel that will pass through the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea. This move will turn half of Istanbul into a large island. This project, if it scales through, will be the most ambitious project ever undertaken under Erdogan's 17-year rule. The development will pass through the Thracian Banks and will accommodate a population of more than one million inhabitants. A container terminal will be constructed with dozens of highways, marinas, malls, bridges, and entertainment centers.
Planners revealed the plans in 2018 when a document was submitted by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to Parliament. Well, the estimated cost towers at $20 billion.

Advocates of Kanal Istanbul argue that once completed, the canal will open up an easy access route for container ships and fuel tankers to connect the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea. This canal will help navigators avoid the twisted channel of the Bosphorus strait that runs through Istanbul. The collision and grounding of ships that is common in the area will be avoided.
As lofty as the plans may seem, there is a problem though. The planned route for the canal passes through the city’s last standing green area and this is where the only water reservoir lies. Environmentalists warn that the project will decimate the ecology of the region and they have raised alarms. Only this time, their alarms have gotten louder after Erdogan's government gave the green light for the project to commence.