Turkey announced a $14 billion regional development plan on Sunday that aims to narrow the economic gap between its mainly Kurdish southeast region and the rest of the country, Reuters reported.
The announcement comes amid increased hope for an end to a decades-long war waged by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey as well as the advent of new leadership in neighboring Syria with friendly ties with Ankara.
The eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey have long lagged behind other regions of the country in most economic indicators, including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, partly as a result of the insurgency.
Turkish Industry Minister Fatih Kacır told reporters in the southeastern city of Şanlıurfa that the government would spend a total 496.2 billion lira ($14.15 billion) on 198 projects across the region in the period to 2028.
“With the implementation of the projects, we anticipate an additional 49,000 lira ($1,400) increase in annual income per capita in the region,” he added.
According to 2023 data, the per capita income of Sanliurfa stood at $4,971, well below the national average of $13,243.
Regarding the prospects for peace in southeast Turkey, two Turkish lawmakers met with the PKK’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, on Saturday, the first such visit in a nearly a decade, citing him as indicating that he might be ready to call on the group’s militants to lay down their arms.
The visit followed a call to Öcalan by a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to end the PKK’s 40-year war, in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.
The conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK, now centered in northern Iraq, was mainly focused in southeast Turkey in the past.
“Terrorism has caused great harm to the eastern and southeastern regions of the country. … A terror-free Turkey will create great benefit to the region,” Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said on Sunday at the event in Şanlıurfa.
Turkey and Western countries designate the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Yilmaz also referred to recent developments in Syria, where Islamist rebels backed by Turkey took power this month after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad and his flight to Russia.
“The opportunities that will come with the new era in Syria will increase the welfare of our entire country. Our southeastern region will benefit more from these developments,” Yılmaz said.