“New Action Plan for Southeastern Turkey” from SETA

New from SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research: Policy Brief No.18, July 2008 “New Action Plan for Southeastern Turkey ” by Taha OZHAN, Coordinator, Economic Research, SETA . org/document/ Policy_Brief_ No_18_Taha_ Ozhan.pdf Currently, GAP is a regional development project that covers nine southeastern provinces extending over the wide plains in the basins of the lower Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Political and economical instability in Turkey in the 1980s diverted attention from the GAP Project and led to consecutive failures in meeting official targets for its progress within the initial time framework. Within the last five years, Turkey has undergone a significant social and economic transformation whereby fiscal discipline, effective inflation control and an average of greater than 7% growth have been achieved ahead of many expectations. Turkish government launched its long-awaited plan for the GAP Project, now scheduled for completion by 2012 at an expected cost of around 27 billion YTL ($20 billion). The government described its action plan to boost social and economic development in the country’s southeast as “a turning point for Turkey .” The GAP Project was designed not only as a rural development plan but also as an economic initiative intended to have positive social and political consequences for Turkey ’s Kurdish issue. However, although it is certain that the Kurdish issue has an important socioeconomic dimension; it would be a mistake to reduce the issue to the economic backwardness of the region alone. Please find attached a copy of SETA Policy Brief No. 18, “New Action Plan for Southeastern Turkey “. Please click on the following link to download the document: . org/document/ Policy_Brief_ No_18_Taha_ Ozhan.pdf SETA FOUNDATION FOR POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH Resit Galip Caddesi Hereke Sokak No: 10 GOP, Cankaya 06700 Ankara , Turkey Tel: +90 312 405 61 51 Fax: +90 312 405 69 03 www.setav.org info@setav.org