The versatile public service initiatives in Turkey's rural areas: The case of Village Institutes

Abstract

States are obliged to provide public services to their citizens equally. However, in most cases, countries have prioritized cities over rural areas in the provision of public services. For instance, in Turkey, following the proclamation of the Republic in 1923, until 1935, the government had offered public services only to the cities. Due to their limited budget and economic difficulties, they had been unable to extend their public services to rural areas. With the 1940 initiative called Village Institutes (VIs), the state launched a project aiming to provide all public services—education, health, agriculture, and social and cultural services—under the umbrella of VIs. With this paper, I aim to examine the extent to which this initiative has been successful in rural areas.