@article{2017,title={GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KARA MENDERES BASIN (ÇANAKKALE) IN TERMS OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL},abstractNode={Currently, rural development-related problems, occurring in many places across the world, adversely affect almost every segment of a society, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, continuous efforts have been made to ameliorate the disadvantaged status of rural areas (disadvantaged in comparison with cities) by boosting the income of rural settlers and promoting their welfare. The efforts of rural development in Turkey are mostly at the macro level, and it is hard to claim that the desired results have been achieved. This situation necessitates the production of local rural development plans. Thus, it is crucial to carry out research discussing geographical factors in terms of rural development potential in detail and laying the groundwork for local plans. The present study investigates the geographical properties of the Kara Menderes Basin, which have been facing various problems associated with rural development and suffering from outgoing migrations, in terms of its rural development potential. Moreover, a SWOT analysis was performed to determine its strength and weaknesses and to pinpoint opportunities and threats in relation to rural development. The joint evaluation of the natural, human and economic characteristics of the Kara Menderes Basin and the results of the SWOT analysis revealed that the area had a great potential for rural development, but available resources were not effectively exploited. Among the major issues are problems with marketing of agricultural and livestock products, farmers’ organizational incompetency, lack of},author={Cengiz AKBULAK},year={2017},journal={The Journal of Academic Social Science}}