The crazy projects of the Ottoman come to life

History researcher Turan Şahin stated that the origin of tens of projects that make life more livable today is the Ottomans, and that today's executives who have used what they say "that friendly voice" have realized projects whose intellectual infrastructure is completed.
In the book titled “Crazy Projects of the Ottoman” published by Yitik Treasury Publications by the history researcher Turan Şahin, from the tube passage in the Bosphorus to the bridges to be built on the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, from the channel that connects Marmara to the Black Sea, to monuments that will commemorate the victories. Many works were presented based on Ottoman documents and accompanied by a visual richness.
In his evaluation article in the book, Turan Şahin pointed out the importance of learning history in order to catch the clues about the future with the aim of catching the clues of the future, and when looking at the projects in the book, it will be seen that the origin of dozens of projects that make life more livable is seen as the Ottoman. Şahin pointed out that the executives of today, who gave use to what they said "that friendly voice", have realized projects whose intellectual infrastructure is completed.
Stating that there are more tens of projects in the Ottoman sources Sahin, found the following suggestions:
“The first job of those who are at the decision position about tomorrow of this country today should be to take these projects off the dusty shelves where they are located. Undoubtedly, our earnings will be huge. Thus, these projects, designed according to the needs of the region years ago, can be put into effect without repeating the idea and preliminary preparation stages, using only the opportunities of the technologies developed according to today's needs. The fact that we are implementing the Ottoman projects on average 100 years ago does not mean that we cannot produce new ideas. On the contrary, the fact that these projects can be implemented today is a sign that we will again be the country where big dreams are seen. ”
The "crazy" projects of the Ottoman Empire, which were included in the book, were realized or were taken steps to be realized even after centuries:
- "S. Prerault's Cisr-i Enbubi Project (Underwater steel tunnel) ”: The first proposal to combine the stations in Sirkeci and Haydarpaşa came from Prerault on 3 August 1860. The existence of the project was announced in Cahit Kayra's 1990's Old Maps. As the project is supposed to be the work of the Sultan Abdülhamid period, not the Sultan Abdülaziz period, the project sketch became definite when it was found in the Republic Archives of the General Directorate of State Archives. The government found the project, which it saw technical deficiencies to be impractical. The project will come to life with the commissioning of Marmaray, the construction of which began in 2004.
- "Golden Horn Bridge Project" by Leonardo da Vinci: In 1503, Vinci developed a bridge project connecting Pera to Istanbul via Golden Horn. The 2nd Beyazid, who ordered the project, was fussy about the dimensions of the project and the bridge was not implemented. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is working to implement the Vinci's Golden Horn bridge project.
- "Kabataş-Taksim Funicular Line Project ”: Osman Hamdi Bey shared his project with the government in February 1895. In the project, KabataşNarrow line funicular to be operated with a steam machine was offered to Taksim. Kabataş-Taksim Funicular started operating in 111, 2006 years later.
- “Ferdinand Arnodin's Cisr-i Hamidi and Ring Road Project”: The first serious attempt to build a bridge to the Bosphorus came from Ferdinand Arnodin. In March 1900, Arnodin presented the drawing of the ring road routes and bridges to the sultan. The aim of the project was to provide a railway connection between Europe and Asia. The project also envisioned the regulation of pedestrian and vehicle traffic. The railway, which will cross the Hamidiye Bridge between Rumeli and Kandilli, will connect Bakırköy and Bostancı stations. The first bridge to the Bosphorus was built 73 years after this project.
- “The Great Ottoman Park Project of Münif Pasha”: Miniatürk is parallel with the thought of Münif Pasha, but contains differences. Münif Pasha suggested not to break the link between geography and structure by proposing that the cultural heritage be placed in the correct places on an Ottoman map. Turkey and Miniatürk where the 1/25 scale model of the selected works from the Ottoman geography, opened in 2002.
Overlapping with Kanalistanbul
- The "Golden Horn-Black Sea Canal Project", which is considered as an alternative to the Bosphorus and aims to open a new strait, was based on the idea of ​​connecting the Black Sea to the Golden Horn through the Kagithane Stream and planned to be established in Kagithane. A part of the Bosphorus traffic would be shifted to the channel planned to be built. Kağıthane, which is the main port of the Black Sea-Marmara connection, was the central point of the project. The project envisaged the construction of a canal up to 1850 kilometers. For the same purpose, another project was launched by Piyale Pasha about 31 years ago during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. The goal of this project was to shift the density existing in Haliç to other centers.
Author Turan Şahin stated that the project "Kanalistanbul", which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched as the "Crazy Project", overlapped this project.
Russia, 383 implemented after year
- "Don-Volga Canal Project": Russia, after 383 years, built a 16 kilometer long channel 5 kilometers below the point determined by the Ottoman engineers by creating artificial lakes in sizes that can be watched by 45 thousand tons of ships.
- “Kosovo- Constanta (Danube-Black Sea) Aziziye Canal Project”: Romania implemented the project in the 120s, 1950 years later.
- “Red Sea Mediterranean (Suez) Canal Project”: The project, the first steps of which were taken in 1568, was realized with the order of Sultan Abdülaziz dated 19 March 1866. Thus, the first Ottoman canal project was launched.
- "Layihalar Irmak Projects and GAP": The Southeastern Anatolia Irrigation Project, proposed by Hasan Fehmi Pasha, one of the statesmen of Sultan Abdulhamid II, came to life after 2 years.
- “Dead Sea (Dead Sea) - Mediterranean Canal Project”: Preliminary preparations for the project, which aims to connect the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and which is considered as an alternative to the Suez Canal, have started.
- The "Sample Villages" project, which the Izmir National Library Director and the members of the administration presented to the Ministry of Internal Affairs after a war, was put into practice 63 years later by the late Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit. Today, the Koydes project is being carried out in a similar way.
Projects that remain "crazy"
Many of the projects included in the book, which is the first of many 41 projects, are as follows:
- Antoine Bouvard's Horse Square (Hippodrome) Project: According to the project, the 16th century building Ibrahim Pasha Palace, west of the Horse Square, was to be demolished instead of being destroyed. This giant building would cover the Horse Square, in the form of the letter E, about 480 meters long, and would resemble Bonvard's masterpiece of the Palace of Industry in scale and plan. The gardens overlooking a west-facing street on the north-south axis parallel to the Horse Square were planned.
- The "Beyazıt Square" project of Antoine Bouvard: Bouvard, aiming to preserve the historical texture of the city in the Horse Square project, took a different approach in the Beyazıt Square project and offered a real city center proposal to the city.
- Bouvard's "New Mosque Square Project": Bouvard proposed opening the beaches and creating a large square in front of the New Mosque.
- Antoine Bouvard's "Galata Bridge Project": Despite the architecturally unpretentious design of the old bridge, Bouvard's project proposed a structure that any western traveler could easily see as the most outstanding example of modern architecture. The Golden Horn in his drawing looked wider than the real Golden Horn and the bridge was longer for this reason. Bouvard terminated the bridge designed with the sculptures and lighting elements on it with two large towers and made it an entrance to the square entrances.
"Light from Asia" or "Statue of Liberty Project" thought before the Statue of Liberty in New York
- "Project to obtain potable water from sea water": The project aimed to meet the clean water needs of the Middle Eastern countries under Ottoman rule.
- Sarkis Balyan's “Heybeliada-Büyükada Bridge Project”: Sarkis Balyan, an islander contractor to facilitate the transportation between the two islands, made a proposal to Sultan Abdülaziz about this problem during the construction of Dolmabahçe Palace. The proposal was a 1200 meter tall suspension bridge. According to the project, the suspension bridge would be built with a width of 5,5 meters, and a penny pass would be taken from the bridge. The bridge, which will pass 1 people a day, would pay for itself in 300 years.
- “Railroad Project for Ship Transportation”: A project with only an attachment on the dusty shelves of the Ottoman Archives. The project aimed to move the ship of any kind by placing it on a rail with a mechanism to be installed and moving it to a second port. In particular, two pools, 3 thousand feet long parallel to the railway line, that have different functions in the port should be built side by side. There should also be large gates between the port and the pool. The process will start with the notification of the transfer boat to the spine of the ship entering the first pool. In this case, the backbone of the ship will be fastened to the transport boat, the rest of the ship's belly will be rested on the boat. The process will also end with the machine by pulling the ship onto the railway, which consists of 12 iron bars, five steps apart from the sea, on the deep water transport boat.
- "Galata-Süleymaniye Suspension Bridge Project" by Şehremaneti Science Delegation Director Aurique: It was envisaged that the designed bridge would connect two districts that do not have a coast to Haliç, Süleymaniye and Galata.