ISTANBUL, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Turks have been marking the Maritime and Cabotage Day, which falls on Wednesday, with a series of events held across the seas of Turkey's biggest city Istanbul since this week.
A day earlier, Sahika Ercumen, a Turkish free-diver, dived into the Bosphorus Strait as part of the celebrations to raise awareness about plastic pollution in seas, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.
Drawing attention to the increasing amount of plastic waste in the strait, Ercumen said she swam with plastics rather than fish, noting plastic rubbish in the sea has been posing a high risk not just to sea creatures but also humans.
At another event on the strait that took place on Wednesday, some two dozen vessels belonging to the Istanbul municipality performed a spectacular show by spraying water.
The 30-km-long Bosphorus flowing between the Asian and European parts of Istanbul is among the busiest waterways in the world with a high volume of transit vessels.
"Happy Maritime and Cabotage feast, the symbol of our independence in the sea," Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul, said on his Twitter account.
"I also wish that maritime trade, transportation, and culture will further develop in the country," he added.
In the upcoming days, various sports races are expected to be held on the seas of Istanbul, which include the Black Sea on the north and the Marmara Sea on the south, according to the municipality.
The cabotage law was adopted by the Turkish parliament in 1926, declaring Turkey's independence in the seas and ending foreign dominance in sea trade across the country. Enditem
