Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has set out a plan to create 19 new provinces and 78 new districts in Türkiye, a project his party calls "100 Provinces, 1,000 Districts" (100 İl 1000 İlçe), according to reports by BirGün, Cumhuriyet, Yeni Şafak and Anadolu Agency on Sunday.
Bahçeli made the remarks to the newspaper Türkgün. "With the project we have prepared as the Nationalist Movement Party, we envisage the establishment of 19 new provinces and 78 new districts," he was quoted as saying.
Türkiye currently has 81 provinces and 922 districts. If implemented, the proposal would bring those totals to 100 provinces and 1,000 districts, the reports said.
How new provinces would be chosen
Bahçeli did not name any of the districts that would be upgraded to provincial status, and no list of the proposed new provinces or districts has been published, according to the reports.
He said the selection would be based on objective criteria, listing population, economic development potential, geographic location, access to public services and strategic importance. The districts to become provinces would be picked from those with the potential to do so, on the basis of criteria agreed with the relevant state institutions, and the final decision "will be determined by the TBMM", he said, referring to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye.
The MHP may bring a bill on the districts and towns it considers suitable to parliament’s agenda at a later date, the reports said. No such bill has yet been submitted.
Reasons given
Bahçeli argued that population growth, urbanisation and changing public service needs require the country’s administrative structure to be reorganised. He said central and local administration should be brought into line with the presidential system of government, and described the project as covering the restructuring of public administration from the centre down to local government.
According to Anadolu Agency and Yeni Şafak, he also linked the reform to the "Terror-Free Türkiye" (Terörsüz Türkiye) process, saying such arrangements were of great importance for making the climate of peace, stability and prosperity lasting.
The 100-province, 1,000-district target is one Bahçeli has raised before; Sunday’s remarks were the first time he gave the number of new provinces and districts the party’s work envisages, the reports said.
Sources
- Bahçeli yerel yönetimler için konuştu: "19 yeni il, 78 yeni ilçe kurulmalı" (BirGün)
- Bahçeli’den 100 il, 1000 ilçe çıkışı: 19 yeni il ve 78 ilçe önerisi (Cumhuriyet)
- Devlet Bahçeli yeni projeyi paylaştı: 19 yeni il 78 yeni ilçe kurulmalı (Yeni Şafak)
- MHP Genel Başkanı Bahçeli 19 yeni il ve 78 yeni ilçe öngören projeyi açıkladı (AA via Haberler.com)
Photo: Clemens Holzmeister (1893-1983) Makril / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
