It continued to increase in the 1990s due to Turkey’s rapidly growing economy,
population, industrialisation and urbanisation, and their effects on the environment.
However, in the last couple of decades concern for the environment has considerably increased (even if still it cannot be claimed that it has become a priority
for the country), reaching its highest levels in the 2000s due to the impact of the EU
accession process.
Indeed, Turkey’s economy experienced high levels of rapid sectoral growth,
particularly in the fields of energy, industry, transport and tourism, in the 1990s.
This economic boom caused seriously high levels of unfavourable environmental
pressures, risks and threats, which may give rise to serious environmental degradation in the long term.
After the concept of sustainable development entered the world agenda through
the Brundtland Report, prepared by the World Commission on Environment and
Development in 1987, Turkey was confronted with the challenge of ensuring the
balance between its economic growth and environmental progress – a difficult task,
as its development interests sometimes supersede environmental concerns because
of its economic growth capacity.
In the Seventh Development Plan (1996–2000), it adopted sustainable development as a key principle and objective, and prepared its national reports on
sustainable development for submission to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development held in Johannesburg in 2002 and the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. Through an
amendment made to the Environment Act (Act No. 2872) in 2006, sustainable
development was integrated into Turkey’s legal framework as well.
So, on the basis of this principle, legislative, institutional and technical development in the field of environmental issues as part of the environmental management in the country has been conducted over the years.
Regarding the strengthening of legislation, between the establishment of the
Turkish Republic in 1923 and the recent period, a great number of legal documents
related to the protection of the environment – international agreements (multilateral,
regional and bilateral), legal regulations (acts, decree-laws, by-laws), official
statements, circulars, resolutions, national strategies, plans and programmes etc. –
have been adopted and enacted. Given the fact that many others regarding different
aspects of environmental protection are still in the process of being prepared or
adopted, it has become necessary to provide an analytical overview of previous and
ongoing initiatives related to the development of Turkish environmental law.
In order to make this analysis and to understand the present situation of Turkish
environmental law, the research is based on comprehensive data collected as a
result of a detailed search for the related legal/official documents on international
environmental law (IEL), Turkish law, and the EU accession process.
The development process that Turkish environmental law has passed over the
years is revealed in five main phases: (1) Pre-1982 Constitution period, (2) From
1982 Constitution to the EU candidacy (1999), (3) From the EU candidacy (1999)
to accession country status (2005), (4) From the accession country status (2005) to
the opening of the chapter on environment (2009), (5) The opening of the chapter
on environment (2009) onwards.
8
Z. Savaşan
population, industrialisation and urbanisation, and their effects on the environment.
However, in the last couple of decades concern for the environment has considerably increased (even if still it cannot be claimed that it has become a priority
for the country), reaching its highest levels in the 2000s due to the impact of the EU
accession process.
Indeed, Turkey’s economy experienced high levels of rapid sectoral growth,
particularly in the fields of energy, industry, transport and tourism, in the 1990s.
This economic boom caused seriously high levels of unfavourable environmental
pressures, risks and threats, which may give rise to serious environmental degradation in the long term.
After the concept of sustainable development entered the world agenda through
the Brundtland Report, prepared by the World Commission on Environment and
Development in 1987, Turkey was confronted with the challenge of ensuring the
balance between its economic growth and environmental progress – a difficult task,
as its development interests sometimes supersede environmental concerns because
of its economic growth capacity.
In the Seventh Development Plan (1996–2000), it adopted sustainable development as a key principle and objective, and prepared its national reports on
sustainable development for submission to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development held in Johannesburg in 2002 and the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. Through an
amendment made to the Environment Act (Act No. 2872) in 2006, sustainable
development was integrated into Turkey’s legal framework as well.
So, on the basis of this principle, legislative, institutional and technical development in the field of environmental issues as part of the environmental management in the country has been conducted over the years.
Regarding the strengthening of legislation, between the establishment of the
Turkish Republic in 1923 and the recent period, a great number of legal documents
related to the protection of the environment – international agreements (multilateral,
regional and bilateral), legal regulations (acts, decree-laws, by-laws), official
statements, circulars, resolutions, national strategies, plans and programmes etc. –
have been adopted and enacted. Given the fact that many others regarding different
aspects of environmental protection are still in the process of being prepared or
adopted, it has become necessary to provide an analytical overview of previous and
ongoing initiatives related to the development of Turkish environmental law.
In order to make this analysis and to understand the present situation of Turkish
environmental law, the research is based on comprehensive data collected as a
result of a detailed search for the related legal/official documents on international
environmental law (IEL), Turkish law, and the EU accession process.
The development process that Turkish environmental law has passed over the
years is revealed in five main phases: (1) Pre-1982 Constitution period, (2) From
1982 Constitution to the EU candidacy (1999), (3) From the EU candidacy (1999)
to accession country status (2005), (4) From the accession country status (2005) to
the opening of the chapter on environment (2009), (5) The opening of the chapter
on environment (2009) onwards.
8
Z. Savaşan