Description
Over the past decade, there has been a renewed interest to the role of agriculture to development. Regarding today’s developed countries’ past, almost all of them have agrarian experiences. Although the agricultural production has declined, Turkey has been a very significant agriculture sector; and the development of agricultural production equals the development of non-agricultural sectors, which means that agriculture and agricultural policies are backbone of the economy. One of the agricultural policies is land reform that is a significant prerequisite for the high growth and development. Its contribution to development can be boosted by its spillover effects in the economy. The lack of land reform is identified as one of the main structural problems of development. This study aims to analyze why Turkish land reform could not be achieved and what are the impacts of it. The political disputes and constraints on implementation, socio-economic situation of Turkey and problem of inequality will be investigated. The discussion starts off from the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923. Especially after the Second World War, the land reform was seen as one of the important structural reforms, which must be undertaken if Turkey was to achieve its economic, and social development aims as a part of the industrialized Western Block. That’s why; the present study examines both the domestic determinants and the international dimension. First, the approaches, different perspectives and theoretical discussions on the land reform will be identified. Having conceptualized the land reform in a larger systemic context of international political economy, the land reform in Turkey and its impacts will be examined with cross-country references from East Asia, Latin America and Middle East; that comparative historical perspective will contribute and enrich to the study.
