Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has unveiled a sweeping administrative reform plan for Turkey, proposing the creation of 19 new provinces and 78 new districts under what the party calls the '100 Provinces 1000 Districts Project'. Speaking to the Türkgün newspaper, Bahçeli said the proposed changes are based on objective criteria including population, geographic location, development potential, strategic importance and difficulties in accessing public services.
Bahçeli described the initiative not merely as an administrative adjustment but as the 'administrative vision of the Turkish and Turkey Century'. He noted that the project was developed by weighing statistical data alongside sociopolitical and socioeconomic conditions, arguing that Turkey's shift to the Presidential Government System in 2017 made a corresponding overhaul of the country's administrative structure necessary.
The MHP leader said the final decision on which districts would be elevated to province status would be made by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, following consensus among relevant state institutions based on predetermined objective criteria. He added that the party was prepared to introduce a legislative proposal to this effect in due course.
Bahçeli also linked the reform effort to Turkey's 'Terror-Free Turkey' process, saying that lasting peace, stability and prosperity required comprehensive legal arrangements spanning from central government to local administrations. He underlined that all measures would be guided by the principles of administrative unity, service efficiency, citizen-centricity and enhanced institutional capacity.
