KUZNETS curve in Türkiye and its border neighborhoods

Economist Simon KUZNETS, who received the 1971 International Nobel Prize in Economics, conducted studies that contributed to the scientific literature in the field of statistics and economics in the field of economic size and income inequalities, based on the fact that economic growth is a necessity for the social, political and cultural growth of society. With the industrial revolution, states aimed to become richer in order to reach a high level of welfare by producing more goods and services. The increase in industrial production has increased environmental pollution and damage to nature. Simon KUZNETS explained the relationship between the level of national income per capita and the deterioration of environmental conditions with the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis, graphically in the form of an "inverted U" between economic growth and income distribution. The hypothesis argues that income inequality will increase in the early periods of economic growth, but after a point during the continuation of growth, income inequality will decrease. In this thesis study, the existence of the Environmental Kuznets curve for Turkey and its neighboring countries for the period between 2000 and 2022 was investigated with Panel Data Analysis. As a result of the research, it was determined that the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis was valid for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in the countries most suitable for the data, but was invalid for other countries. In the analysis, it was determined that the increase in urbanization rate increased air pollution in countries where the hypothesis was valid.