International E-Journal of Advances in Social Sciences

Öz

Canals are built for economic enhancement through
transportation improvement. Canals become nods not only of enormous financial
interests, but of political and security importance. Many canals, like Panama
Canal and Suez Canal have been a reason for political and military confrontation.
This is the reason planning process of a canal to take in consideration
political and security effects in addition to economic reasons for its
existence. Canals security challenges originate from their ‘choke points’
characteristics. Canals are of vital importance to the global economy because
they are critical elements of sea lines of communications (SLOCs) and link seas
and oceans, providing shorter, cheaper, and safe maritime trade. The maritime
security requires control of these choke points. Position and capabilities of a
canal specify its importance for the national, regional, and the global policy
and security. The Eastern Roman Empire, The Ottoman Empire and its successor
Republic of Turkey have defended for centuries the Black Sea straits zone from
raids and attempts to take it away with force. Additional waterway in straits
area will increase security importance of the area, and will heighten the
security importance of the straits. The link between Black Sea and the
Mediterranean is of great importance for Europe, Asia, North Africa, North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the European Union. This brings the project
for canal between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara to a vital position for
many countries. Canal Istanbul project is scheduled to become operational in
2023. The canal may bring not only additional waterway and prosperity, but to
originate security challenges, also. They will range over defence, general
security and order, political, and environmental domains. The published information
aroused discussions about Canal Istanbul’s affect on local nature and people in
Turkey, its impact on international maritime traffic, and possibility to
‘surround’ the Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits signed at
Montreux, July 20th, 1936. Defence and protection review for Canal Istanbul is
included in this article, along with proposals. Important part of the article
is the overview and comparison between Montreux Convention and the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.