The Effect of Dependency Theory on Discussions of ‘Underdevelopment’ in Turkey

Abstract

Since the establishment of the Republic regime in 1923, one of the main discussion topics of intellectuals and of people who govern in Turkey has been ‘development’. Even though these two groups mostly had different approaches with respect to development strategy, they had a common belief that development would be achieved through industrialization. In a similar manner, the suggestions for development strategy put forward by different intellectual circles were not homogeneous. Despite all their differences, the clarity of Western paradigms forms the common point of these suggestions. Even the theoretic endeavors that have the claims of authenticity and of being domestic are not free from this effect. Approaches that try to understand and explain underdevelopment in Turkey within the theoretical frame of ‘dependency theory’ constitute one of the most typical examples of this.