Gap project did not help Southeast, says report
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 29, 2008 00:00
The South Eastern Anatolia Project, or GAP, has benefited all regions except the Southeast, the Regional Economic View Report, prepared by the municipalities of Turkey’s eastern and southeastern regions, said.
The Southeast has even fallen behind Africa in economic indicators, the municipalities in the report said.
The municipalities said the Turkish Statistical Institute had not released data on the distribution of national income by regions and provinces since 2001, and the government was trying to hide the economical and social ruin in the provinces of the Southeast. The Union of Southeastern Municipalities, or GABB, said the segregationist economic policies executed in the region had played a significant role in increasing poverty and redundancies.
The report that covered 21 provinces of the eastern and southeastern regions said the gross national product per person in these provinces was 12 percent of the European Union average. The report said 94 percent of the 2,165,000 women over the age of 15 in the region were not in the work force. Of all the green card users in Turkey, which are given to people with a low income to benefit from free health-care and social services, 46 percent lived in these 21 provinces.
Osman Baydemir, president of GABB and the mayor of the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality said: "We tried to cast a reflection like a mirror with this report. Diyarbakır cares about economic and social development as well as religious identity."
The municipalities said the Turkish Statistical Institute had not released data on the distribution of national income by regions and provinces since 2001, and the government was trying to hide the economical and social ruin in the provinces of the Southeast. The Union of Southeastern Municipalities, or GABB, said the segregationist economic policies executed in the region had played a significant role in increasing poverty and redundancies.
The report that covered 21 provinces of the eastern and southeastern regions said the gross national product per person in these provinces was 12 percent of the European Union average. The report said 94 percent of the 2,165,000 women over the age of 15 in the region were not in the work force. Of all the green card users in Turkey, which are given to people with a low income to benefit from free health-care and social services, 46 percent lived in these 21 provinces.
Osman Baydemir, president of GABB and the mayor of the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality said: "We tried to cast a reflection like a mirror with this report. Diyarbakır cares about economic and social development as well as religious identity."