Regional development policies in Turkey in the process of European Union harmonization

Ten new countries were converged to the European Union in May 1st, 2004,with the largest enlargement of the Union. In spite of the fact that these countriesare considered as developed countries to some extent, they could not eliminatedifferences in terms of regional development in the country. On the other hand, bythe accession of Bulgaria and Romania in January 1st, 2007, Turkey?s position isgetting more difficult. Hence, Turkey has to be more timely and careful in her studiesto be successful in eliminating regional differences.This study deals with the regional differences in Turkey and the policies thathave been put forward by the government so far. Besides, this study examines theamount of the aids that have been obtained from the European Union in order toeliminate regional differences and in which regions these aids have been used. Thisstudy also examines the reforms that have been realized in Turkey in theharmonization process to EU Regional Policies.This study consists of 3 chapters in general. In the first chapter, there areseveral regional definitions. Besides, samples of regional imbalances and theirdrawbacks are mentioned; and then the regional development policies andstrategies are explained. In the second chapter, the reforms (in terms of projects,execution programs, promotion) that have been realized between 1923?s (the un-planned terms) and today (planned terms) are mentioned and socio-economicaldifferences are explained by help of several tables. In the third and the last chapter,EU?s regional policy is explained and the origins of the aids that are used formember countries, accession and other countries, on the other hand, the projectsthat are executed in Turkey by help of EU funds, and the reforms (developmentagencies, education programs) that are implemented in Turkey in order toharmonized to the EU Regional Polices are clarified. Lastly, it is mentioned howTurkey is accorded to the EU Regional Polices.