Rural promotion model research in the context of sustainable rural development: The case of Mut

The main objective in the understanding of sustainable rural development is to combat poverty by increasing the capacity of the region and the employment of rural labor force. Thus, it is aimed that the people of the region have sufficient income by improving their quality of life, and their commitment to the countryside by increasing their welfare level. The district of Mut is among the places where the rural living is low due to physical and non-physical problems. Although Mut has hosted many agricultural, infrastructural, educational and sanitary investments in recent years, the population of the district has decreased by 4.65% since 2007. One of the most important reasons for this decrease is that the district does not have features of being an attraction center. In this study, it is aimed to conduct a thematic tourism region model research in Mut in order to prevent migration by increasing rural promotion and to make the district, a center of attraction in terms of tourism for attracting new visitors. As a result of this research, two thematic route suggestions were revealed. The first; establishing a new route themed as the Cyprus Road, since it was the transit route of the people had sent to the island of Cyprus for the purpose of Turkification, which was conquered by Selim II., the second, creating a new model as the theme of the History Road, since there are many historical ruins in Mut, where many states, starting from the periods of Ancient Anatolian civilizations, including the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires have ruled. Activating rural tourism opportunities, which have an important function in the protection and promotion of our natural and cultural heritage, may provide rural promotion by improving employment opportunities in the region, then, it may contribute to the increase of domestic, in the district of Mut, and foreign tourism revenues of Turkey as a country.