Bosporus

President Erdogan's ambitious plan to build a new canal in Istanbul next to the Bosporus is raising important concerns about the future of the 1936 convention governing the Turkish Straits.

Two prominent experts have come face to face with each other in a debate of intriguing questions after one of the experts made a prediction that the Bosphorus Strait would experience a "mini ice age" situation in two years while the other expert dismissed it by saying it was "out of the question."

This year Turkey will open a tender for the mega-project Canal Istanbul, an artificial sea route parallel to the Bosphorus set to connect the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, a senior Turkish official said on Feb. 26. 

"Canal Istanbul is truly a visionary project," said Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum during a speech in Turkey's central province of Kirsehir.

With jellyfish numbers rising at alarming rates and dolphins suffering in Turkey's Bosphorus due to overfishing, experts are warning officials to take measures to check fishermen from exploiting the waters.

Heavy rains and snow have battered Turkey's east, the Mediterranean and west coasts, disrupting daily life, particularly in Istanbul, Ankara and Bursa.

The Turkish State Meteorological Service has warned the residents of Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts, eastern provinces, Istanbul and the capital Ankara for rainy weather conditions.

Heavy fog led to a shutdown of vessel traffic late on Jan. 17 in Turkey's Bosporus Strait, said Turkish officials.

Marine traffic in the Bosporus has been suspended as visibility is below a half mile, the Istanbul Port Directorate of the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry said in a statement.

Fishermen using cast nets in the depths of the Bosphorus Strait and close to its shores on big fishing boats are threatening marine wildlife, experts have warned.

The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry permits industrial fishing at 24 meters of depth offshore and in seas, but fishermen have been throwing nets from their large fishing boats close to the banks of the Bosphorus Strait.

Gizem Turan, 31, has become the first woman official to serve in the Directorate General of Coastal Safety assigned with the duty to guide and assist vessels of 250-meters-long or more that pass the Istanbul Strait.

"I am the chief officer of the towing boat called Kurtarma 8, and the only woman working in a tugboat under the Directorate General of Coastal Safety," Turan said.

Istanbul awakes to the day in haze as a thick layer of early-morning fog covers the city on Dec 4. Creating some spectacular views, the fog blankets over the three bridges on the Bosphorus Strait.

Turkey,

Istanbul is witnessing a rise in the number of jellyfish on its shores, especially in the Bosphorus Strait, which connects the Aegean Sea to the Marmara Sea, due to strong winds drawing ocean currents.

"There is a high concentration of jellyfish off Arnavutköy and Sarayburnu," said Melek İşinibilir Okyar, an academic from Istanbul University.