President Erdogan said preparations are nearly complete for the Kanal Istanbul project, tender will float next month. Construction of the canal of 45 kms (28 miles) at the cost of $9.5 billion will start in summer.

The canal will be an alternative international shipping lane/waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea running parallel to the Bosphorus strait.

It will contribute to Turkey’s logistical power and global maritime trade. Through this canal 160 vessels a day will pass and reduce transit periods and costs, in addition to passage fees.

Istanbul’s canal will ease shipping traffic on the Bosphorus Strait, one of the world’s busiest maritime passages. it will prevent accidents similar to the recent incident on Egypt’s Suez Canal, where a giant container ship became lodged and blocked the channel for almost a week.

Following the announcement, 104 retired admirals released a statement warning the government that proposed canal could harm Turkish security by invalidating an 85-year-old international Montreux Convention. The Montreux Convention provided Turkey the possibility to maintain its neutrality during the second world war. The Turkish military has long seen itself as the guarantor of the country’s secular constitution, staging three coups between 1960 and 1980 and fourth unsuccessful attempt in July 2016.

The 1936 Montreux Convention guarantees free passage in the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to civilian shipping in peacetime as well as to naval vessels of Turkey’s Black Sea neighbours but it will not apply to the new Canal. In theory this means Turkey would allow passage to vessels it likes, including USA warships, in effect militarising the Russian-dominated waters in Black Sea.

The Montreux Convention is different from the Treaty of Lausanne which was signed between Turkey and first world war allies Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, and Romania in 1923 for hundred year. Lausanne Treaty ended the Turkish War of Independence and scrapped the humiliating Treaty of Sevres imposed upon the Ottoman government after its defeat and determined Turkey’s new borders.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of the project was completed with the contributions of 56 institutions and organizations. This canal was proposed by the Ottoman ruler in 1886 but not constructed. Erdogan revealed it again in 2011.