TEPAV Economic Policy Analyst Esen Çağlar stressed that, in the face of the  ongoing debates about the Istanbul Channel Project, Turkey has to make a choice about its growth strategy as well as Istanbul's future.

The commentary assessed:

"However, despite the wide gap between supply and demand and the ever-increasing difficulty of life, we must give Istanbul its due: if Turkey has grown over the last three decades, it has been enabled by this beautiful city. In fact, let us put it straight: Turkey's growth has been directed neither by a growth strategy nor by an industrial policy. Since we let rivers run their course, Istanbul has had to act as a magnet. As citizens have migrated from rural areas or Anatolian cities to Istanbul and found jobs, overall the productivity of Turkey has increased "automatically." Today, the per capita income in Istanbul corresponds to 155 percent the average in Turkey. The city alone generates 30 percent of the total value added generated in one year in Turkey. More than 50 percent of the production of the services sector and 38 percent of the industrial production is carried out in Istanbul. Moreover, 40 percent of the total tax revenues of Turkey are collected in Istanbul."

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