More than three-quarters of İstanbul residents oppose the controversial Kanal İstanbul project, a new survey from an agency affiliated with the İstanbul Municipality has revealed, amid renewed public debate over the proposed artificial waterway.
According to the İstanbul Planning Agency (IPA), 77.2 percent of respondents said they do not support the project, which critics warn would cause severe environmental damage and increase earthquake risks. The survey results were released on Thursday via the agency’s official X account.
🏙️ İBB İstanbul Planlama Ajansı İstanbullular’a ‘Kanal İstanbul’ ile ilgili görüşlerini sordu.
📉 İstanbulluların %77,2’si Kanal İstanbul Projesi’ni desteklemediğini belirtti.
🌱 Desteklemeyenleri en önemli sebeplerinin başında %53,8 ile doğa tahribatına sebep olması ve %39,1… pic.twitter.com/nwpf97japl
— İstanbul Planlama Ajansı (@ipaistanbul) May 1, 2025
Among those opposed, 53.8 percent cited environmental concerns, while 39.1 percent feared the canal would increase the city’s vulnerability to earthquakes. Another 31.2 percent said the project serves an interest in profit rather than public need.
The canal project, first introduced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan more than a decade ago as his “crazy project,” aims to carve a 45-kilometer sea-level channel through western İstanbul to relieve congestion in the Bosporus Strait. Construction officially began in June 2021.
Over the past days, government ministers have given conflicting messages about the government’s plans to go ahead with the canal project.
Although Environment Minister Murat Kurum said on Wednesday that the construction of the canal is not currently on the agenda, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu suggested otherwise on Thursday.
“We are consulting on the matter,” Uraloğlu said in response to a question about the project. “We have a clear intention, we will definitely build Kanal İstanbul. The only issue is when.”
The ministers’ messages have fueled criticism from opposition leaders, including İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who is currently in pretrial detention on corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated.
“If you are not afraid of the people’s will, then hold a referendum on Kanal İstanbul,” İmamoğlu said on his X account on Wednesday, which is managed by his legal team. “Let the 16 million residents of this city decide its future.”
İmamoğlu has previously alleged that construction had already begun in parts of the project area, including the controversial development of 24,000 housing units near Sazlıdere Dam. The Turkish government claims that these are part of a social housing initiative unrelated to the canal.
CHP leader Özgür Özel further escalated tensions on Wednesday, claiming that Kurum’s assertion that Kanal İstanbul is off the agenda is untrue. “We declare and expose to the whole of Turkey that these statements are lies,” he said, adding that “the political target of the March 19 coup attempt was İmamoğlu and the financial target was Kanal İstanbul.”
İmamoğlu was detained on March 19 and put in pretrial detention on March 23. CHP called his detention a “coup attempt against our next president.”
İmamoğlu was elected the CHP’s presidential candidate on day of his arrest. He is seen as Erdoğan’s most powerful political rival who can defeat him at the ballot box, having dealt Erdoğan rare defeats in the 2019 and 2024 mayoral elections.
Earlier this week, acting İstanbul mayor Nuri Aslan condemned the detention of more than 50 people including senior city officials last weekend, including İSKİ water utility executives, department heads and deputy secretaries-general, accusing the government of using the judiciary to target those who opposed Kanal İstanbul. Eighteen of these people were placed in pre-trial detention on Wednesday.
“These teams were protecting İstanbul’s water basins and urban integrity,” Aslan said. “Their arrest is unjust and clearly politically motivated.”
The detentions came amid a broader crackdown on the CHP that culminated with İmamoğlu’s arrest.
While Erdoğan argues the canal is vital for maritime safety, environmentalists and urban planners warn it could destroy water resources, increase traffic and population density and worsen earthquake risks in the metropolis of more than 15 million people.
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the city on April 23, causing no major damage but sparking renewed concerns about seismic vulnerability in the proposed canal zone.