Why does Turkey turn Istanbul into an island #shorts #geopolitics #countriesoftheworld #maps

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, is located on one of the world's most important sea passages, the Bosphorus. Unlike the Panama or Suez Canal, however, Turkey does not make money from it, due to the Montreux Convention, which grants Turkey control over the Bosphorus, but under certain conditions: First, only the five countries bordering the Black Sea are allowed to send warships through; second, Turkey must give free passage to civilian and commercial ships in both peacetime and wartime; and third, Turkey can never charge ships that want to pass through the strait. So Turkey is building a new canal 30 kilometers west of the Bosphorus, which is technically not part of the Montreux Agreement, and there Turkey can charge for ships passing through and allow any warships to pass through. But why would anyone pay for the canal when the Bosphorus is free? Well, the Bosphorus is almost always congested, being one of the most important waterways in the world, so the new canal would be a fast track to bypass th