Bosphorus’ garbage on display in Istanbul square

ISTANBUL

Thousands of pieces of waste have been removed from the depths of Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait, which cuts through the city, dividing into Europe and Asia, as a result of cleaning carried out by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

Diving into the sea from Üsküdar on the Asian side of Istanbul, the divers of the municipality tumbled upon items such as trash, bottles, mobile phones, motorcycles, bicycles and truck tires. The waste materials removed from the sea bed were exhibited in Üsküdar Square to draw attention to the severity of pollution in seas.

“We saw plenty of mobile phones, personal waste, beverage bottles, wheels and scissors in the water. Our team is trying to take remove them,” said Kubilay Akgör, a scuba diver.

Saying that such an exhibition was created in order to increase awareness, Fatih Hoşoğlu, an official from İSTAÇ, a subsidiary of the municipality, emphasized that there was even a typewriter among those that were removed from the sea before.

“We keep the interesting ones in order to increase awareness. We send others to facilities if their recovery is possible, we dispose those that cannot be recycled,” Hoşoğlu said.