‘Channeling’ power: Water, politics and development in Southeast Türkiye under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Rule

The Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi (GAP), or Southeastern Anatolia Project, is a large-scale water infrastructure project in Türkiye that harnesses the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, extending across six provinces and into neighboring Syria and Iraq. Today, the GAP includes 22 large dams and 19 hydroelectric power plants. Beyond its economic rationale of enabling irrigation and generating electricity, this thesis approaches the GAP as a political project designed to fulfill state objectives. From the understanding that large infrastructural projects can reflect contemporary political priorities, this study examines what insights the GAP can o􀆯er regarding broader political developments in Türkiye during the Justice and Development Party (AKP) era under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from 2002 to 2022. Using a combination of qualitative content analysis, expert interviews, and academic sources, this longitudinal process-tracing thesis researches the GAP’s relationship with democracy through...Show moreThe Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi (GAP), or Southeastern Anatolia Project, is a large-scale water infrastructure project in Türkiye that harnesses the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, extending across six provinces and into neighboring Syria and Iraq. Today, the GAP includes 22 large dams and 19 hydroelectric power plants. Beyond its economic rationale of enabling irrigation and generating electricity, this thesis approaches the GAP as a political project designed to fulfill state objectives. From the understanding that large infrastructural projects can reflect contemporary political priorities, this study examines what insights the GAP can o􀆯er regarding broader political developments in Türkiye during the Justice and Development Party (AKP) era under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from 2002 to 2022. Using a combination of qualitative content analysis, expert interviews, and academic sources, this longitudinal process-tracing thesis researches the GAP’s relationship with democracy through institutional reforms, political economy, discursive framing, and cooperation with riparian states. This thesis hence provides a deeper understanding of how the GAP reflects Türkiye’s increasingly authoritarian trajectory between 2002 and 2022. From a broader perspective, the thesis seeks to investigate whether large infrastructural projects can serve as indicators of a country’s democratic course. However, establishing causal links between the GAP and democratic backsliding proved di􀆯icult due to the interplay of various external political, economic and regional factors, limiting the transferability of the findings and preventing watertight conclusions about water infrastructure as an indicator of democratic change.Show less

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‘Channeling’ power: Water, politics and development in Southeast Türkiye under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Rule