GAP had originally been planned by Sultan Abdülhamid II, the latest and last great strategist of the Ottoman Sultanate, by the late 19th century. However, it was initiated once again around the 1970s, consisting of projects for irrigation and hydroelectric energy production on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. However, the project was transformed into a multi-sector social and economic development program for the region in the early 1980s by Turgut Özal, Turkey's prime minister at the time.
The development program encompasses such sectors as irrigation, hydroelectric energy, agriculture, rural and urban infrastructure, forestry, education and health. The water resources development component of the program envisages the construction of 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric power plants and the irrigation of 1.82 million hectares of land.
As is known, not only Turkey but the world as well has been threatened by two important recent phenomena: global warming, which has led to dramatic climate change resulting in food shortages, and skyrocketing energy prices. Because of these important problems, Turkey's recent push in economic development and growth has been blocked by rising inflationary pressures and an unsustainable rise in the current account deficit.
A long-term solution to these problems requires energy investment based on local resources and increased food supply. Fortunately, GAP provides us with a fertile ground to carry out these projects simultaneously.
For this reason, the government recently announced plans to complete GAP. By the end of the current year, a total of YTL 2.3 billion will have been spent in GAP-related projects. Next year, YTL 3.6 billion will be allocated for the GAP budget to unfinished parts of the project. Within five years an estimated $12 billion will be spent in order to complete the project.
The prime minister's "package" in that regard is quite important in the sense that 1.9 million hectares of agricultural land cannot be irrigated in the region. Compared to other parts of the project, measures to improve irrigation have come quite late. Therefore the new action plan's priority is expected to be irrigation.
The project will not only increase agricultural production in the region, but also provide employment for almost 4 million people, nearly half of the region's population. This expectation for employment may not be realistic; however, even the employment of 1.5 million people would change the social psychology to a great extent.
The government's target is to increase the income level fivefold in the project area. Parallel to this process, incentives for local, national and foreign entrepreneurs to invest in the region would start a new momentum in attracting more fresh resources and would also increase the region's industrial potential based on agriculture, tourism based mainly upon history and culture and, ultimately, a trade network with neighboring countries.
In summary, the government has taken a step at the right time with a right perspective that will change the entire picture not only in the GAP area, but also in the greater geographical region as well as within Turkey itself.
