Evaluation of the administrative transformation in Van with its structural and functional dimensions in the context of law no. 6360

Law No. 6360 on Metropolitan Municipalities, enacted in 2012, brought significant changes to the administrative structure in Turkey. With this law, 14 provinces with a population over 750,000 gained metropolitan status and the number of metropolitan cities increased to 30 in total. One of these 14 provinces is Van. With the law, Special Provincial Administrations were abolished and replaced by Investment Monitoring and Coordination Directorates. In addition, villages and towns were transformed into neighborhoods and connected to the nearest district municipality. The service boundaries of metropolitan municipalities are limited to provincial borders. These regulations imposed important responsibilities on metropolitan municipalities. Van province has a long history dating back to 3000 BC and stands out as an important city in the Eastern Anatolia Region. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine the fundamental changes in the administrative structure of Van province within the framework of Law No. 6360. In this context, a literature review on the changes in Van province was conducted, annual and audit reports were analyzed and a number of semi-structured interviews were conducted. As a result of these studies, it is understood that Van province has undergone significant structural and functional changes.