The Southeastern Anatolia Project (Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi, GAP) is arguably the largest regional development project ever witnessed in Turkey. Begun in the 1970s, GAP initially aimed primarily at the construction of 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric power plants on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and of extensive irrigation networks to produce hydroelectric energy and water 1.8 million hectares of land in southeastern Turkey. Later, the scope of GAP broadened significantly as it became a more ambitious and comprehensive scheme of modernization and transformation. Following this expansion, the multidimensionality of GAP and its multifaceted implications became clearer at both the national and international level. The project grew more visible and influential not only in political and public discourses, but also in the GAP region itself. Despite these developments, however, the question of how the project’s characteristics, vocabulary, rationales, and mechanisms have changed since its inception remains underdiscussed. This article asks what GAP was in the past and what it has more recently become. It examines the gradual transformation of GAP over forty years by specifically taking into account the continuities and ruptures in development discourse, theory, and practice since the 1950s. In this way, the article aims to provide a new perspective regarding the stages through which the project has passed to reach its current form.

中文翻译：

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重新审视东南安纳托利亚项目 (GAP)：GAP 四十年来的演变

东南安纳托利亚项目（Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi, GAP) 可以说是土耳其有史以来最大的区域发展项目。GAP 始于 1970 年代，最初的主要目标是在底格里斯河和幼发拉底河上建造 22 座水坝和 19 座水力发电厂，以及在土耳其东南部 180 万公顷土地上建造广泛的灌溉网络，以生产水力发电和供水。后来，GAP 的范围显着扩大，因为它成为一个更加雄心勃勃和全面的现代化和转型计划。随着这一扩展，GAP 的多维性及其多方面影响在国家和国际层面变得更加清晰。该项目不仅在政治和公共话语中，而且在 GAP 地区本身也变得更加引人注目和有影响力。然而，尽管有这些发展，自项目启动以来，项目的特点、词汇、原理和机制如何变化的问题仍未得到充分讨论。本文询问 GAP 过去是什么以及它最近变成了什么。它通过特别考虑自 1950 年代以来发展话语、理论和实践的连续性和断裂性，审视了 GAP 四十年来的逐步转变。通过这种方式，本文旨在提供一个新的视角，了解该项目经历了哪些阶段才能达到目前的形式。它通过特别考虑自 1950 年代以来发展话语、理论和实践的连续性和断裂性，审视了 GAP 四十年来的逐步转变。通过这种方式，本文旨在提供一个新的视角，了解该项目经历了哪些阶段才能达到目前的形式。它通过特别考虑自 1950 年代以来发展话语、理论和实践的连续性和断裂性，审视了 GAP 四十年来的逐步转变。通过这种方式，本文旨在提供一个新的视角，了解该项目经历了哪些阶段才能达到目前的形式。