Comparison of Türkiye and Azerbaijan in terms of regional development policies

Development is a phenomenon that generally expresses the economic, social, cultural, human and technological development of a country. Today, one of the most basic goals of the world's countries is to ensure development in the most effective and rapid way possible. In order to ensure rapid and dynamic development in a country, it is important to eliminate the imbalances in terms of interregional development in the country and to ensure the systematic development of the regions. It is possible to define regional development as the whole of activities carried out with the aim of eliminating intraregional and interregional development differences, accelerating regional development, and improving the living conditions and welfare level of the population through the most effective use of regional potential. In the historical process, important regional development policies have been prepared and implemented by governments in order to ensure development and regional development. In terms of regional development policies, important policies have been implemented in the historical process in order to eliminate interregional development differences and ensure regional development in an effective and systematic way in Türkiye and Azerbaijan, and they are still being implemented today. In this context, the aim of the thesis study is to contribute to the sharing of experience for both countries by comparing the regional development policies implemented in Türkiye and Azerbaijan, identifying existing similarities and differences. In addition, due to the gaps in the literature on the subject, it is aimed that the thesis study will contribute to future studies. In the thesis study based on literature review, firstly, a comparison of regional development policies in terms of historical development process, aims and characteristics will be made. Then, a comparison of the institutions responsible for regional development policies in Türkiye and Azerbaijan will be given. Finally, a comparison will be made between "Development Agencies", which have an important role in ensuring regional development in Türkiye, and "The Economic Zones Development Agency", which carry out important activities for the development of "economic zones" in Azerbaijan.