Abstract:

Free Zones are private areas which are excluded from the customs borders of the country in which they are located and in which foreign trade is facilitated and some particular commercial activities are carried out Free Trade Zones which were established on the way of big trading routes and in which some advantages were given to foreign trade became the basis of today’s free zones Free Zones have important economical effects in developed and developing countries While developed countries look for cheap labour developing countries aim to develop their economies by providing regular inflow of foreign currency The regularity should be procured in export so as to rally economy and accelerate the growth process Therefore free zones have been considered as foreign trade policies of countries since the first quarter of the 20th century First free zone implementations were seen in the period of the Ottoman Empire in our country These implementations were continued after the Republic had been found but the main transition started in 1980s Free Zones provided important added value in the rally of economy in this period in which economic growth aiming at export started to be carried out Some reconciliation about our foreign trade transactions were made in the scope of customs union with the European Union since 2000 and some regulations were made in the free zone implementations In this study the concepts of free zones historical characteristics types and reinforcements and advantages were tried to be explained Then the development transition and economical contributions of free zones in Turkey were explained Keywords: Tree Trade Zones Effects of Free Trade Zones Custom Union

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