Reports - United Nations Development Programme

COUNTRY EVALUATION: ASSESSMENT OF DEVELOPMENT RESULTS – TURKEY
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overarching development goals in terms of improvement
in the quality of life and living standards of people,
continuous and stable economic growth process, societal
transformation with the goal of EU membership, and
integration with the rest of the world to ensure that
Turkey will attain a more influential and respected role
globally and regionally. 23
The Plan’s key priorities for these goals in the
medium-term are as follows:
Achieving high and sustainable growth through
macroeconomic stability and an improved investment
climate
Initiating structural reforms to achieve a hightechnology,
internationally competitive economy in
agriculture, industry and services, built on the
transition to a modern knowledge economy
Developing Turkey’s human resources and increasing
employment opportunities through improved
education and health services
Improving infrastructure services and environmental
protection
Reducing regional and social differences with
enhanced regional development and social assistance
programmes
Accelerating efforts to meet the Copenhagen criteria,
and adoption of the Acquis Communautaire
(ii) The Programme of the 59th Government
and Its Urgent Action Plan 24
The Programme of the 59th Government, 25 while not
explicitly referring to the 8th Five-Year Development
Plan, is broadly consistent with the basic provisions of
that Plan. The AKP Government’s priorities are the
following:
Complete the rehabilitation and reconstruction
process of the economy
Restart sustainable economic growth
Reduce poverty and unemployment
Reduce and reshape the state and its institutions, in
terms of function, authority and accountability within
the confines of universal values, modern standards
and effective implementation
Reduce the bureaucracy
Create the conditions that will enable Turkey to become
a regional economic power and financial centre
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23. Long Term Strategy and 8th National Development Plan (2001-2005),
http://ekutup.dpt.gov.tr/plan/viii/plan8i.pdf, 2003
24. The programme of the 59th Government, http://www.basbakanlik.gov.tr/
english/59programmeme.htm, 2003.
25. All Governments in Turkey before they get a vote of confidence, have to submit
a “Government programme” to the parliament.
Together with this programme the Government also
declared its “Emergency Action Plan.” This action plan is
more detailed and sets time limits for implementation
of the proposed measures. Much of the action plan is
oriented towards macroeconomic stability (such as cuts in
public spending and privatisation). However, there are also
measures for poverty reduction (such as supporting the
Social Solidarity Fund by increasing its budget and by
redefining principles of spending, reducing unemployment,
and helping families who live under the poverty line) and
for governance and decentralisation (such as passing the
Local Administration Law, passing the Law of Rights of
Information for Citizens, eliminating corruption and
instilling total quality principles and good governance
systems in public services).
(iii) The National Programme for
the Adoption of the Acquis 26 and the
Preliminary National Development Plan 27
After the Helsinki Summit, and in accordance with the
candidacy process for membership in the EU, the
Government prepared a NPAA in response to the
Accession Partnership Document. The NPAA was first
published in 2001 and a revised and detailed version was
published in July 2003.
The NPAA is a detailed document of 884 pages. It
defines each one of the legal changes, programmes,
capacity building attempts, implementing agencies,
funding commitments from EU and Turkish Government
sources, as well as the required amendments in the
legal system. There are 29 harmonisation areas where
amendments are required, each with sub sections and
different priorities designated under them.
With the NPAA, Turkey has agreed to comply with
the Copenhagen political criteria. And indeed, since
1999, Turkey has taken some important measures to meet
these criteria, including abolishment of the death penalty,
lifting the state of emergency in all provinces, and
expansion of the freedom of expression, thought and
press. In addition, laws have been amended to reinforce
gender equality, to protect cultural diversity and to
guarantee the right to learn and broadcast in traditional
languages and dialects. The “advisory only” role of the
National Security Council has been reaffirmed. Turkey
also signed or ratified various UN and European Court
of Human Rights conventions including the UN
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26. Republic of Turkey National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis,
http://www.abgs.gov.tr/NPAA/up.htm, 2003.
27. The Republic of Turkey Preliminary National Development Plan (2004-2006),
http://ekutup.dpt.gov.tr/plan/p-ndp.pdf, 2003.