Is development possible without cultural policies? Rethinking creative industries and sustainable development in the case of Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to reconsider the cultural and creative industries’ role within the sustainable development of Turkey. Although Turkey is one of the most important countries in cultural and creative industries ecosystem, she’s facing some significant problems such as insufficient creative human sources, lack of well-tailored cultural policies and maybe most importantly, the culture’s implicit role in the sustainable development of Turkey. For a proper understanding of cultural policies’ role on sustainable development, especially in the developing countries, the present article inquiries primarily UNESCO’s cultural policies and culturally sustainable development notion. Then, the present study will be headed towards a re thinking of creative industries and sustainable development nexus in the case of Turkey. In this sense, this article explains the challenges and jeopardies in the creative industries within Turkey’s creative ecosystem. My study would conclude that the development of creative industries mainly relies on remarkable groups of creative entrepreneur’s endeavours rather than “appropriate” cultural policies in Turkey. While cultural and creative industries have been evaluated as new sources of employment and welfare for countries, the present study argues that these industries need a “well –tailored” cultural policy and the inclusion of culture into development paradigm. In this sense, towards a sustainable development in Turkey, this study would offer some recommendations for Turkey’s newly established creative industry policies.