The role of Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution (TKDK) support in rural development: The example of Burdur province

This thesis examines the support items for rural development in the five-year development plans and National Rural Development Strategies (UKKS) since the founding of the Republic of Turkey. In this respect, the aim of this thesis is to demonstrate the scope and areas of support provided for rural development following the establishment of the Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution (ARDSI). For this purpose, the thesis investigates the areas of rural development support provided by the Burdur Provincial Coordination Unit, established within the scope of ARDSI support, under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for Rural Development (IPARD) programs (IPARD I, IPARD II, and IPARD III) and the amount of grant support provided. Furthermore, the study examines the candidate country Turkey's participation in rural development in the European Union. The provinces where TKDK, the institution responsible for the distribution, payment, and monitoring of development grants, was established and the sectors covered by IPARD support were examined. The study revealed that TKDK has completed 25,904 projects, providing a total of €1.94 billion in grant support, and that the total investment amount for these 25,904 projects was €4.1 billion. These supports resulted in employment for 105,728 people. Of these 25,904 projects, 14,540 investors were young investors (under the age of 40), and 7,263 were women. Regarding TKDK investors, the TKDK Burdur Provincial Coordination has signed a total of 517 project agreements, excluding terminated and rejected projects, and has disbursed approximately €37,839,808 in grants for completed projects. For ongoing projects, the project will be finalized following project implementation. It was concluded that the payment would be made. Of the 517 projects implemented with grant support from the Burdur Provincial Coordination Unit, 255 involved young investors and 151 involved women. These investments also provided employment for 1,369 people. During the IPARD I process, the TKDK Burdur Provincial Coordination Unit received 287 projects, while this number reached 195 during the IPARD II period. So far, 35 projects have been received during the IPARD III period.