The announcement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in April 2011 of his country’s intention to move beyond legal and environmental concerns to drill a parallel channel to the Bosphorus Strait linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea in a manner similar to what was being done in the Suez and Panama channels has prompted a number of regional and international powers to the declaration. With the Turkish President announcing that the start of digging the Istanbul Channel will begin at the end of June 2021, the debate, analysis, and concerns have returned to the fore. This paper focuses on the Russian position on the issue of the construction of the Istanbul Channel, its impact, and its implications for Russian national security.
