Page 187 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 3

İbrahim Yenigün-Vildan Balcı-Abdullah Yenigün-Sinan Uyanık

was collected from wells and cisterns formed by the accumulation of rainwater.
As the population grew and the number of fires increased over time, each
neighborhood was equipped with a water pump, which facilitated the immediate
response to the fires (Öztürk, 2007, Çelik, 2012). Although the development of
these established organizations made it easier to intervene at the time of a fire,
this problem was not completely prevented. In this context, the tragic events of
the forest fires that started in Antalya’s Manavgat district in July 2021 in Turkey
and spread to many cities in a short period of time are an indication that this
problem is still important today and cannot be completely solved.

Protection of Water by Legal Codes in the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, which was sensitive to the protection of water
resources, reflected this approach in its legal system and made numerous
decisions and rulings on this issue. In the light of these decisions, it can be
seen that the rights of use of individuals were taken into consideration rather
than the rights of use of the water belonging to the property. These rights are
called “easement rights”. If the sources are examined, there are two rights
regarding the use of water resources, including the right of use (hakk-ı şirb)
and the right of drinking (hakk-ı şürb and hakk-ı şerefe). The right to use
water for agriculture and animal husbandry is called utilization right - hakk-ı
şirb, the right to use water for drinking is called drinking right - hakk-ı şürb or
hakk-ı şeref, provided that it does not harm the drinking water of animals and
humans. In the use of water;
• People from all walks of life have the right to use and drink (hakk-ı şirb
and hakk-ı şürb) from canals, rivers, streams, etc. that do not belong to
any property,
• People have two rights as hakk-ı şirb and şürb of the water flowing
through the pipes and conduits belonging to private property, while
others can only benefit from hakk-ı şürb provided that they do not harm,
• Provided that they do not cause any damage to the pool, well, fountain
water belonging to the private property, except for the owner of the
property, people can only benefit from it in terms of hakk-ı şürb,
• In the case of property waters in areas such as pools, warehouses and
cisterns belonging to a private property, no one has these two rights
except the owners of that property.
In addition to the rights mentioned above, two other rights are mentioned
in the use of water, namely hakk-ı mecra (the share of the dike) and hakkı
mesil. Hakk-ı mecra, means the right used to pass the waterway through
the structures on the land belonging to someone else in the construction of

172 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate