9/19/2017
Important Statements of Ahmet Arslan, the Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication
"We have made 65% progress in the new 3rd airport. We will open its section that will serve 90 million passengers on October 29, 2018. Fresh water drilling works will be performed for fresh water fluidity in Canal İstanbul Project. There are extracted materials such as earth and rocks... Part of the earth will be taken to agricultural lands and the areas adjacent to the third airport. We will also build artificial islands on Marmara Sea. There will be logistics centers that will provide high amounts of revenue to our country."
Ahmet Arslan, the Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication (UDH) informed the press about major transportation projects. About the construction of the 3rd airport, Arslan said: "We have made 65 percent progress in the construction of the new 3rd airport where there are currently more than 30,000 employees and 3,000 heavy machines. The efforts have accelerated for runways which have become suitable for landings. Efforts are in progress for two runways. There is a backup runway next to each runway, and a third one next to the former. Each runway is made up of three landing strips. Two of them are about to be completed, and we will open the section that will serve 90 million passengers on October 29, 2018. In 2023, we will serve with 6 different runways that will serve 200 million passengers. We will be able to handle 4 of A180s, which are the world's largest aircraft, simultaneously. People will be able to fly to Africa, Middle East, and Asia with ease. We will employ 100,000 people for the beginning. We are in a period of employment campaigns, and we have created 1,200,000 jobs so far. We will create 225,000 jobs by 2023. The same contribution will be made to side industries as well." "We wanted to build a channel through Black Sea and Marmara Sea as a measure to protect Bosphorus against the risk of explosion of oil tankers while they pass through the Bosphorus" The Minister Arslan made the following statements about Canal İstanbul Project: "... it is an important project for Turkey and the world... We wanted to build a channel through Black Sea and Marmara Sea as a measure to protect Bosphorus against the risk of explosion of oil tankers while they pass through the Bosphorus. We have initiated a tender and determined the contractor. Thus we have started working. We are working in collaboration with specialists and professors. Considering that fresh water sources of İstanbul are located in Thrace, we do drilling without damaging those sources. Fresh water drilling will be done for the soil and to ensure the fluidity of fresh water. We will start to implement the construction and financial models according to the result of this survey. There are extracted materials such as earth and rocks... Part of the earth will be taken to agricultural lands and the areas adjacent to the third airport. We will also build artificial islands on Marmara Sea. There will be logistics centers that will provide high amounts of revenue to our country." As can be remembered, we reported that a contract worth TL 34.9 million had been signed on August 3, 2017, with Yüksel Proje which was awarded the contract for feasibility survey in the tender for feasibility survey of Canal İstanbul Project where the Ministry received the negotiated bids of 3 companies, and that the feasibility surveys of this mega Project was expected to be delivered by the end of 2018 TEBA:1827/ August 4, 2017. "We will put Rize Artvin Airport in service by 2020" Regarding the construction of Rize Artvin Airport which was contracted to the Joint Venture of Cengiz İnşaat+Aga Enerji for TL 1 billion in February, Arslan said: "The world's second airport built on sea was Ordu-Giresun airport, and now we have started building Rize-Artvin Airport. We are faced by a challenging work; we will reclaim and embank the sea, and put the airport in service by 2020. Rize-Artvin airport will also have passengers from Batumi, Georgia. A tourist wants to access their destination and return easily. It will be a very important destination for tourists." Lastly, Arslan said: "Filyos Industrial Zone is being established. We aim to transport the freight to Anatolia, East, and South through Port Filyos... It is a large port; a port that we call "line port." We will particularly provide railway access to Filyos. There will be a serious amount of production with tunnels and dual carriageways. It will be a major logistics base." As it is known, the Ministry included the railway branch line projects of Port Filyos in the investment program and initiated a tender for survey works.
Annual Report