Istanbul
The princess, spread over seven hills, with the scent of history
The beloved, for whom lives were sacrificed
The small Byzantium city, founded three thousand years ago and located at Sarayburnu, a heavenly corner of the Bosphorus, quickly grew larger and became a Roman city, leaving its mark on history.
With the collapse of the Roman Empire in 395 A.D., the city remained Byzantium and became the capital from then on.
Following the polytheistic period, it became one of the most important cities in the Christian world and underwent extensive reconstruction.
All the powers in its vicinity, however, had their eyes on it. It was, therefore, protected by ramparts that were difficult to breach.
In 1453
in a very short time and at a very young age, the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmet, conquered, by using his intelligence as well as his power, this glamorously beautiful princess of the Bosphorus, for whom lives were sacrificed, and he was called "the Conqueror", a title that nobody had previously been granted.
It was then the favourite, the new capital of the young Ottoman Empire reigned over by Sultan Mehmet, the Conqueror. The city was firstly called Stimbol and later, as Ystanbul, it became a city of another world, with its rapidly increasing population.
It became the biggest and the most beautiful city of its period, being graced with brand new Islamic buildings, that increased its beauty and added to the monuments that had been left by the civilisations that had lived there up to that time.
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the young Republic of Turkiye was founded in 1923 with its capital at Ankara. Although Ankara was declared the capital, Ystanbul did not lose any of its importance.
Again Ystanbul is the artistic, cultural, industrial and commercial centre and again Ystanbul is at the centre of the economy of Turkiye.
Because of those characteristics, its population rapidly increased and reached over 10 million. In Turkiye today, one person in seven is living in Ystanbul.
With the increase in population, the demand for jobs, livelihoods, roads and most importantly the demand for living space increased, and the roads, bridges and especially the water supply in Ystanbul became inadequate for the number of people living there.
In a short space of time, new roads were added to the inadequate road network. By constructing two suspension bridges, like pearl necklaces across the Bosphorus, the Asian and European continents were connected.
Terkos, Elmaly, Büyükçekmece, Alibeyköy, Ömerli and Darlyk Dams were constructed and brought into service, in order to meet the water needs. However, in a short space of time those water resources also became inadequate.
The General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works has, therefore, undertaken a large project to meet the water requirements of Ystanbul until 2040.
The water of the Melen River, originating from the Bolu mountains and discharging into the Black Sea at Akçakoca, is to be conveyed to Ystanbul as drinking and domestic water.
The Japanese Government provided the financial support by granting a loan of approximately one billion US Dollars for this project, referred to as the "Greater Melen Water Supply Project".
Eleven firms, which were given the task of executing the works that comprise the project that is to be completed in 2006, are hard at work day and night with their thousands of staff.
On one side, the special steel pipes with a diameter of two and half meters are being manufactured in the factories, and on the other side, the trenches into which the pipes will be laid are being excavated. The pipes that are delivered are very carefully laid and welded to each other.
In accordance with the project, many types of structures will be constructed. Those include weirs, header tanks, dams, a treatment plant, pumping stations, tunnels and pipelines crossing mountains, hills, rivers for 180 kilometres and an internally steel-lined sub-marine tunnel that will be the first tunnel to cross the Bosphorus.
The firms executing the work are racing against time. Because, where the responsibility of one firm ends, the responsibility of another firm starts. In order not to delay the completion of the project on time, they should work appropriately to a given programme. Therefore a race is also going on to avoid delay and being shamed.
In the Melen Project, water will be extracted at the Melen Weir, which is under construction on the Melen River, that discharges into the Black Sea, and will be pumped to the Melen Header Tank. From there the water will be transmitted to the Alaçaly Dam balancing reservoir by a transmission main consisting of two and half meter diameter steel pipes that pass under the Sakarya River and through tunnels.
From there, the water will be transmitted to Europe's and the Middle East's largest treatment works, Cumhuriyet Water Treatment Works, through the Hamidiye tunnel. It will be treated and pumped to the header tank by large pumps.
The water that has been clarified, treated and transformed into drinking water will then be drawn from the header tank and transmitted to the Beykoz side of the Bosphorus by tunnels and transmission mains.
In order to convey the water to the European side, the Bosphorus that has been twice crossed by bridges in its history will be crossed this time by a sub-marine tunnel. The borehole works for this tunnel that will pass under the Bosphorus from the Beykoz side to Tarabya side are proceeding as quickly as possible.
The water will then be conveyed to the Osmankuyu reservoir through the Ayaza?a tunnel and to the Ka?ythane Terminal Reservoir.
Thus, the adventure of "the transformation of labour into water" with the sweat of thousands of people over 180 kilometres will be ended, in the heart of the princess spread over seven hills, in Ystanbul, the most beautiful city in the world.