The effects of strategic planning on rural development and the case of Gaziantep

The aim of the thesis is to provide an explanation of related terms and concepts as well as literature survey, and discuss the process of launching and current state of strategic planning and rural development in Turkey. We provide related cases from Strategic Plan for the years 2006-2010 of Gaziantep Special Provincial Administration, and evaluate the plan with regard to strategic planning and rural development using Inspection Report on ?General Work Conduct by the Special Provincial Administration? for the year 2007,Inspection Report on ?Office of Governor General Work and Conduct? and ?Report on General State of the Province? as well as inspection reports on ?General Work Conduct by the Special Provincial Administration? and ?Office of Governor General Work and Conduct? for the year 2010 prepared by the Inspectors of Internal Affairs and submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.Also we provide and discuss results of the questionnaire that included various questions regarding Strategic Planning and Sustainable Rural Development and was conducted on 640 persons.The purpose is to assess the applications under assumptions that the strategic planning method and the whole process is simple and useful provided that the strategic plan is taken into account when the budget is being prepared, it is secured that the results of the plan are measureable, the expenditure has to be fulfilled without exceeding, the 5-year process must be completed after updating the plan at the end of the 2nd year, and that there will be no positive effects on rural development if there occur disruptions in the process.Key Words;1-Strategy,2-Strategic planning,3-Rural development,4-Sustainable rural development,5-Provincial Special Administration.