“When the canal is built in Istanbul, the clean water brought by the rivers flowing into the Black Sea will mix with the Marmara. (Kanal Istanbul) The water quality in the Sea of Marmara will increase and it will contribute to the prevention of sea saliva.” The echoes of the words of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu in the Channel 24 broadcast last week regarding the Kanal Istanbul project, whose foundation is expected to be laid by the end of the month, continue.
However, according to experts, it is not possible to clean the mucilage with Kanal Istanbul. Therefore, it is stated that the words of Minister Karaismailoğlu have no scientific basis.
According to the news of Lale Elmacıoğlu from Independent Turkish, the President of the Water Policies Association Dursun Yıldız and İzmir Dokuz Eylül University (DEÜ) Marine Sciences and Technology Institute Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Doğan Yaşar is of the opinion that the idea that the sea saliva that affects the Marmara Sea will disappear with the said canal project is unrealistic.
“It is clear that Kanal Istanbul will not have any positive impact”
According to Dursun Yıldız, Water Policy Expert, former Director of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) and President of the Water Policies Association, Minister Karaismailoğlu's remarks are based on some of the statements given at the "Marmara Sea Pollution Workshop" jointly organized by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and the Union of Marmara Municipalities. inconsistent with the information.
Yıldız said that experts who have been working on this issue for a long time stated that 60 percent of the total pollution load of Marmara comes as terrestrial pollution, while the other (40 percent) part originates from the Black Sea.
In the same workshop, Yıldız also stated that it was shared that the organic pollution load of the discharges from the Danube and Dnieper Rivers to the Black Sea is high and that 70 percent of this discharge passes through the Bosphorus.
Dursun Yıldız, who stated that strata currents are seen in the region from a hydraulic point of view, said, “The lower salinity and colder flow entering the Marmara from the Black Sea and the salty, hot and denser bottom current coming from the Aegean and passing from the Marmara to the Black Sea do not mix with each other. . An intermediate layer is formed between these two. It has also been determined by these measurements,” he said.
For this reason, Yıldız, who underlined that the flow that will enter the Marmara from here with the construction of Kanal Istanbul will again be a dirty flow with organic load, “Also, even if it comes clean, it will not have a function to prevent this formation as it will not interfere with the bottom flow where mucilage formation takes place. It is clear that Kanal Istanbul will not have any positive effect on the efforts to reduce the pollution load of the Marmara Sea within a plan. Many scientists are making scientific statements that this channel will have a very negative effect.”
“According to me, the work on the Kanal Istanbul project is null and void”
Izmir Dokuz Eylul University (DEU) Marine Sciences and Technology Institute Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Doğan Yaşar shared similar views.
Reminding that the Kanal Istanbul project was not the right decision to be put into practice, let alone clearing the mucilage, Yaşar stated that he was of this opinion and said, “The EIA data regarding the Kanal Istanbul project is not sufficient. I read the sea part, I can't even say it's not enough work because there is no work! What is written has nothing to do with the sea! For projects like Kanal Istanbul, oceanographers have to work in the field, but none of these have been done," he said.
prof. Dr. According to Yaşar, the voices of scientists should be listened to and Kanal Istanbul should be abandoned.
Emphasizing the biological richness of the Black Sea, Doğan Yaşar reminded that the Mediterranean water goes to the Black Sea in the normal strait.
prof. Dr. Doğan Yaşar said: “Because it is 25 meters, there is a one-way passage and this water is very rich. We call the Mediterranean the 'blue desert'. You can see 20 meters with the naked eye, the number of living things is very few. In the Black Sea, it appears up to 7 meters. This shows that there are many living things here from a biological point of view, and the richness of this water. There is no logical need for such a rich water to be given to Marmara unilaterally, Marmara is already rich. The project cannot be done without embroidering it like lace and determining its pros and cons! The work on the Kanal Istanbul project is insufficient, in my opinion it is null and void! The work of a project worth 60-70 billion liras is not done in such an amateurish way.”
“Local and central governments are both guilty”
Emphasizing that the problem of mucilage did not arise suddenly, it was almost "showing off", Prof. Yaşar said that in a thesis written in 1988, it was stated that the Marmara had reached saturation and that no more organic load could be removed.
Arguing that the danger of mucilage has been expressed by scientists for years and that the competent authorities have been warned, Prof. Dr. Doğan Yaşar said, “Despite this, no action was taken. In 2007, Marmara revolted and the first serious mucilage explosion took place. For years, no action was taken. Local governments and central governments are both guilty," he said.
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