TR71 Region

The Republic of Turkey, which has 81 provinces, is traditionally divided into seven geographical regions, but a new method of classification was introduced on September 22, 2002.  Turkey's Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) was formed on three levels as 12 regions, 26 sub-region and 81 provinces in line with Turkey's harmonization process with the European Union, pursuant to Law No. 2002/4720, as a result of joint work of the State Planning Organization and the Institute of Statistics of Turkey.

The definition of all statistical regions is based on population, geography, regional development plans, basic statistical indicators and socio-economic development rankings of provinces and provinces with characteristic similarities are brought together to form the above-mentioned regions. This distinction is not an administrative classification but a statistical regional distinction. Development Agencies were established on the basis of NUTS 2 Regions in accordance with the Law No. 5449 published on January 25, 2006. The Ahiler Development Agency was established together with the other Agencies with the Council of Ministers' decision No. 2009/15236 published in the Official Gazette dated July 25, 2009, representing the TR71 Region within the NUTS 2 Regions. TR71 Region covers Aksaray, Kırıkkale, Kırşehir, Nevşehir and Niğde provinces.

TR71 Region is a NUTS 2 Region consisting of an area of 31,823 km2, covering 4.1% of Turkey's surface area and constitutes 2% of Turkey's population with a population of 1.611.789. Aksaray and Niğde are the provinces with the densest population in the region while the lowest population density is in Kırşehir. In addition, 35.6% of the region's population lives in rural areas and this rate is above Turkey's average of rural population (22.72%). The TR71 NUTS II Region emigrates to the Ankara sub-region, Kayseri sub-region and Istanbul sub-region as it is stuck between economically and socially developed provinces and regions. However, according to TURKSTAT statistics, the ranking of TR71 NUTS 2 Region population decreased from 1.510.080 to 1.508.199 in 2014 while the number of people living in the region increased to 1.515.228 in 2015. The population migrating to the region is influenced by the Syrian citizens who come to our country as refugees as well as at national level. In order to prevent emigration of the local population living in the region, the region should be developed socio-economically and the development disparity with neighboring regions should be minimized.

1.30% of the total gross value-added of Turkey is created by the TR71 NUTS 2 Region. 31% of this ratio is obtained from industry, 48% from services and 20% from agriculture and the most important sector in the region seems to be the services (TURKSTAT 2019, National accounts). In addition to the services sector, the share of agriculture in GVA in Turkey in 2019 was 6,4%. This rate is 21,6% in the TR71 Region and agriculture sector stood out as a branch of economic activity in the region. According to the indicators of agriculture and quality of life, Aksaray province ranks first in terms of crop production and animal production value in agricultural activities in the region. While Aksaray province stands out in the industrial sector, as a result of the research conducted in the services sector, it has been found that Nevşehir is at the best level in terms of service quality. As for the transportation sector, due to the fact that Kırıkkale is on the Ankara route and Niğde on the Adana route, transportation networks in these provinces have shown great improvement. As a matter of fact, in TR71 NUTS 2 Region, railway passes through only Kırıkkale and Niğde provincial centers.

The provinces in the region ranks in the middle in Turkey's overall socio-economic development. According to the socio-economic development index, Aksaray ranks 51st, Kırıkkale 33rd, Kırşehir 43rd, Nevşehir 40th and Niğde 57th (SEGE 2017, Socioeconomic Development Index of Provinces). When the socio-economic development ranking within the region is examined, Kırıkkale Central district takes the first place with the development index value of 1,147, Çiftlik district of Niğde Province takes the last place with the development index value of -1,038 and the five central districts within the TR71 NUTS 2 Region are among the top. In terms of education, Aksaray, where Aksaray University is located and the literacy rate is quite high, is at the top of the list. As for the health indicators, while Kırıkkale Central district where the number of specialist physicians per individual is high takes the first place, Kırşehir Central district ranks second, Nevşehir and Aksaray Central district ranks third, and Niğde Central district ranks fourth. The high capacity of High Specialty Hospital located in the Central district of Kırıkkale has been effective in placing Kırıkkale at the top. In order to minimize the intra-regional development disparity in the fields of economy, education and health and to realize the existing economic potentials, the Ahiler Development Agency has established The Regional Plan of TR71 NUTS 2 Region for 2014-2023 in compliance with the 10th National Development Plan.

The region is recognized and known for its rich natural and cultural assets due to its cultural values such as Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli, Ahi Evran-ı Veli, Cacabey, Yunus Emre and Abdal culture and because it hosts Cappadocia, in addition to the other economic and social characteristics. In addition, nature tourism, thermal and health tourism, cultural tourism, balloon tourism and faith tourism are actively carried out in TR71 NUTS 2 Region. The existing tourism diversity increases the development potential of the region. Traditional handicrafts are only a part of the region's important cultural riches. Clay pots, carpets, leather goods, pottery, tile-making, saddle baskets, marbling and ceramics are still maintained in the region thanks to artisans and craftsmen and their products can be marketed for touristic purposes. In addition, the richness of geothermal resources has enabled Aksaray, Kırşehir, Nevşehir and Niğde to be included in the TR71 NUTS 2 Region in the Central Anatolia Thermal Tourism Region as one of the priority thermal areas to be developed in the Thermal Tourism Master Plan published by the T.R. Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The effective implementation of demographic, socio-economic and socio-cultural developments in our region is limited by the weaknesses and threats of the region. The most important of these are limited water resources, high cost in agriculture, shortage of product pattern in agriculture, weakness of innovation, R&D and university-industry cooperation, low entrepreneurship, insufficient social opportunities in tourism, low labor participation by women, migration, inefficient use of water resources and the presence of erosion.

Currently, TR71 NUTS 2 Region, which has strengthened its local development capacity compared to previous years, will contribute to its development with the Regional Plan for 2014-2023 formed by the Ahiler Development Agency and the Agency will continue to be an important actor in eliminating the factors triggering the change in the Region negatively.