I. Mahmut Tekce
THE COMPETITIVENESS OF TURKISH AGRICULTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
2006
(Supervisor: Fatma Doğruel)

ABSTRACT

In the process of accession negotiations with the European Union, one of the most problematic sectors of Turkish economy will be agriculture. Turkish agriculture is different from the European agriculture in many ways, and there is no doubt that the harmonization of Turkish agriculture to the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU will not be easy. But, such a transformation in the Turkish agriculture could change the destiny of the sector that has been neglected for a long time. In this context, the competitiveness of agriculture is one of the major political and economic challenges for the near future of Turkey. Policies targeted at improving competitiveness would affect not only production or export levels, but would also implicate the development of rural regions. This study aims to explore the competitiveness of Turkish agricultural products since 1980, and tries to determine the proper agricultural and rural policies for Turkey in order to enhance its competitiveness in the process of negotiations, and eventually in the time of full membership. This study also aims to reformulate the Balassa competitiveness index in such a way to explain the changing patterns of agricultural sectors in the developing countries.