Turkey will build a new waterway to bypass the heavily congested Bosphorus Strait. Announcing the project, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the 150 metre wide “Canal Istanbul” would link the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara that opens to the Aegean Sea via the Dardanelles. The canal would be about 45 kilometre long and have a depth of about 25 metres. Mr Erdogan said, one of the main objectives is to reduce traffic through the Bosphorus and minimise the environmental threat. The Bosphorus – the world's narrowest strait used for international navigation – divides Europe from Asia.