The effect of regional policies on Turkey in the process of integration into the European Union

The European Union has been constantly expanding and integrating new countries into its body since its establishment. As a result of these expansions, it is faced with problems that arise from socioeconomic differences, both between and within member countries. Therefore, the European Union has had the need to establish the "European Union Regional Policy" in order to remove these problems and ensure a genuine economic integration. Regional policies that are built on the concepts of solidarity and harmony are important means of promoting both cooperation and economic integration. The European Union, within the structure of regional policies, provides financial support to EU member states and to the EU candidate countries to reduce socio-economic disparity among the regions. Accordingly, EU has established a Fund to provides financial assistance to the candidate countries. Turkey also has many socio-economic imbalances, which have continued for decades, and arise from the differences in areas such as income level, population structure, physical and social infrastructure, level of education, access to health services, environmental quality, and efficient use of local resources. In this context, EU Regional policy is an important doctrine to reduce and eventually eliminate existing imbalances caused by such factors in Turkey. This dissertation studies the impacts of European Union Regional Policy on Turkey by analyzing Turkish regional policy and European Regional Policy in the progress of integration to European Union.