The first national Rural Development Strategy for 2007-13 was adopted in 2006 as the basis of the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance Rural Development (IPARD-I) and Turkey launched its first Rural Development Plan (OECD, 2011a). The priorities formulated in the current (second) Rural Development Strategy for the period of 2014-20, along with investments in productive activities and infrastructure, also view environmental sustainability, rural diversification, as well as social advancement of rural areas in critical dimensions, such as education, health, fight against poverty, and local institutional capacities (Annex 5.A2). The principal activities of the current programmes related to rural development are presented below'.