The “Report of Recommendations for Solutions for the East and Southeast,” prepared by the TUGIK, shows that the regions remain extremely poor.

Social policy needs priority - 13 / 05 / 2008 08:44

The Turkish Confederation of Young Businessmen (TUGIK) warned on Sunday that the steadily growing economic and social disparity between Turkey’s underdeveloped East and developed West must be brought to an “acceptable level” if Turkey is to complete negotiations to join the European Union.

The “Report of Recommendations for Solutions for the East and Southeast,” prepared by the TUGIK High Consultative Council on the economic and social circumstances prevailing in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country, shows that the regions remain extremely poor -- something the report says merits grave concern.

The average per capita income in the provinces of the region is 12 percent of the EU average, the lowest figure among EU candidate countries.

The report says that despite decades-long attempts to find a remedy to the situation, the fact that the area remains Turkey’s most underdeveloped region has not changed.

“This ‘misfortune’ shows Turkey in the eyes of the European Union, which it aspires to join, as having the gravest state of regional disparity and [constitutes] a serious obstacle on the path to EU integration.”

However, the report asserted that even more important was that the region’s circumstances made it impossible for its residents -- who feel they have been left in the hands of poverty and backwardness -- to see themselves as equal citizens of the country, therefore making it difficult for them to trust the state.

“This in turn feeds increasing social tension and polarization. This must be stopped,” the report said.

The report’s findings point to a striking and growing trend of disparity between Turkey’s east and west.

“Regional disparity, from the ‘80s to the 2000s, has changed at the expense of the underdeveloped regions and in favor of the stronger regions.”

The report said the share in total national income of the northwestern Marmara region rose to 38 percent in 2001, up from 35 percent in 1987.

That tendency was reversed in the Southeast, which accounts for 3.5 percent of national income (not considering the income of the city of Gaziantep, whose income level falls strongly outside the region’s trend).

The share of the East and the Southeast combined in national income is currently only 6.5 percent.

The share of the 21 provinces of the East and the Southeast, where 15 to 16 percent of Turkey's population resides, in national income has been consistently decreasing since the '70s, a fall that gained momentum in the '80s.

The region's provinces had a 10.5 percent share in the country's national income in 1965, which fell to 9.5 percent in the decade after that; it then fell to 7.7 percent in 1987 and 7.2 percent in 2001.

Dealing with the problem

The report said Turkey had already wasted too much time clinging to the idea that the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) would magically resolve the region's chronic problems.

It stressed that this "official view" also blocked the emerging of creative ideas: "What's more, no constructive steps have been taken to improve the region's northern area. The Eastern Anatolia Project, DAP, was only devised on paper and remained on paper."

The report also said GAP was not designed to improve the region, but rather to meet the growing energy demand of the developed cities in the West.

"To date, YTL 23 billion has been spent on GAP. Another YTL 39 billion is needed for its completion," it said, adding that energy projects were given priority under GAP.

"The share of agricultural investment, which directly concerns the people of the region, is very low."

The report asserts that the region needs development and social welfare projects outside of GAP, suggesting also that programs to fight poverty should be given priority.

It also said the current system to encourage investment in the region has failed completely.

"The approach that announced about 50 provinces … as a priority development area has applied the exact same methods to encourage investment in Hakkari and in Duzce in the West. Not surprisingly, investors have opted for Duzce, and the provinces of the East and Southeast have not been able to attract any investment."

The report admitted that Gaziantep and Adiyaman remained centers of attraction for investment, however noted that those investments had little chance of spreading to neighboring provinces.

In the period between 2002 and 2006, the total investment made in the cities of the East and Southeast accounted for 4.4 percent of total investment made in Turkey.

Istanbul alone received 25 percent of all investment, while the cities of Kocaeli, Bursa and Tekirdag -- all neighboring İstanbul -- attracted investors seeking to benefit from state incentives.

The total investment attracted by the 21 eastern and southeastern provinces in this period was below the amount of investment made in Bursa alone.

Region deserves special incentives

The report said there were many deterring conditions for businesspeople and potential investors who might be interested in the region -- ranging from economic backwardness, insufficient infrastructure and an inability to keep administrators and technical staff in the region.

"Our experience until today has shown that the incentives offered so far have not been effective in overcoming these difficulties," it said.

The report said special incentives should be developed for the area. Incentives developed for small and medium-scale enterprises with modest targets can be more effective in the short term, it said.

It also noted that industry could not possibly be considered a priority sector, with the exception of industry involving processing the region's agricultural and animal products as well as side industries that would consolidate the increasingly urbanizing cities' construction sector.

Social policy needs priority

The report said it was particularly crucial that the people of the heavily Kurdish-populated region feel themselves equal citizens in society and develop ties of trust with the republic.

A way to achieve this, the report recommended, is developing economic and social policy initiatives for the short term.

The report said the policy initiatives should focus on increasing business activity that would create job opportunities and increase per capita income.

The measures should aid in increasing purchasing power, thus helping the local economy to grow and paving the way for reviving local entrepreneurial spirit.

It added, "Such measures should be the most important factors in a plan that would also serve to destroy the feelings of isolation felt by the region's people and the political consequences of this."

Poverty in the region

In Turkey, 9 million people hold the green cards given to individuals with no social security whose income is less than one-third the minimum wage.

According to the report, 46 percent of these people lived in the East or Southeast as of 2008.

Outside the region, only 8.5 percent of people hold green cards.

The nationwide figure is 38 percent. Families in the East and Southeast have to spend 40 percent of their already low income on food to meet their minimum nutritional requirements.

The report included a number of recommendations to lower the disparity between regions.

The East and Southeast have an enormous need for more investment in education, health and transportation, it said.

In an average school, the teacher-to-student ratio is one to 25 children, but in the Southeast it is one to 32 students.

The report also warned that local administrations and municipalities need significant financial support to meet urban infrastructure requirements.

It also noted that the region had great potential in terms of foreign trade.

"The region's export volume is $4 billion annually, and its import volume is $3 billion. The Southeast accounts for 2.5 percent of Turkey's total exports," the report noted, highlighting that cross-border trade with neighboring countries should be encouraged.

The report in addition pointed to the area's tourism potential.

In 2007, 23.4 million tourists visited the region. By making investments that would improve air travel to the region, tourist traffic could be increased. It noted that the southeastern provinces of Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Mardin and Diyarbakir are important destinations for faith tourism.

The Lake Van area, with its unmatched historical sites featuring remnants from the Seljuk, Urartu and earlier Armenian civilizations, has the potential to become a major destination in itself.

The eastern cities of Erzurum, Palandoken, Kars and Agri have strong potential to become areas for nature tourism and host resorts for winter sports.

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