Local reflection of development in Turkey: Regional development agencies

There is a transformation in approaches to development due to globalization. The effectiveness of centrally-administered development policies are now questioned as a result of this transformation. Instead, a new approach of regional development, which is based on mobilizing local potential and decreasing intra- and-inter-regional differences, is now widely accepted. Governance is an important axis of regional development. Governance aims for the participation of people in making of decisions related to public as soon as possible. This stakeholder perception brings about a new style of administration. In this sense, regional development agencies are established as the institutional reflection of governance approach. This study aims to discuss regional development agencies in Turkey, which became official in 2006 and which have been facing various problems in the first period of application, particularly through the example of Fırat Development Agency. In this frame, the study explains the problems faced by regional development agencies in the first period of application and offers solutions to these problems.