Bosporus

Turkey earned over 1.8 billion Turkish liras (some $322 million) in tolls from two bridges on the Istanbul Strait as well as roads in the first 11 months of this year, the Turkish Highways Directorate said on Dec. 25.

Some 419 million vehicles went through the toll booths this January-November.

The Turkish Environment and Urbanization Ministry has announced the final approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the planned Canal Istanbul project on Dec. 23. Canal Istanbul is a mega-infrastructure project involving the construction of a 45-kilometer shipping canal in Istanbul parallel to the Bosphorus Strait.

A septuagenarian British adventurer on Dec. 20 crossed Istanbul's iconic Bosphorus Bridge on foot as part of a 6,000-mile journey to support the people of Nepal. (Source: Anadolu Agency)

The Turkish government is committed to moving forward with the construction of the multibillion-dollar giant Kanal Istanbul project, the transportation minister has said, informing that companies from Benelux countries have shown a big interest in the project whose planning stage is about to be concluded.

The first Chinese freight train traveling the China Railway Express line from Xi'an, China to Europe crossed under Istanbul's Bosporus Strait on Nov. 7 morning after setting off from Ankara a day earlier.

The Bosphorus strait connecting the Black Sea with the Marmara Sea was closed to transit traffic in both directions for about seven hours while the giant deep-water drilling rig, Scarabeo 9, passed through.

The Istanbul Governor's Office and the provincial directorate of environment and urban planning have ramped up their inspections on entertainment cruise ships touring the Bosphorus Strait following the increase in the number of complaints coming from residents regarding noise population.

Istanbul Strait was closed to shipping traffic both ways on July 21 due to an intercontinental swimming competition, according to Istanbul Port Authority.

The third Bosphorus International Conference on Cyberpolitics, Cybersecurity and International Relations kicked off on June 28 in Istanbul.

A cross-continental swimming race across the Bosphorus will be held on July 21.