Today, environmental pollution has become one of the most fundamental problems for all developed and developing countries. Many methods and strategies have been developed to reduce environmental pollution, but it has not been possible to completely eliminate/reduce the problem. In this study, which sets out to propose solutions to this problem, material footprint (MF) as a determinant of environmental pollution is added to the model as a dependent variable. The relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP), GDP2, GDP3, material productivity (MP), energy consumption (EC), trade openness (TO) and industrialization (I), which are included in the model as independent variables, and material footprint is examined. While carbon emissions or ecological footprint is used as a determinant of environmental pollution in the literature, material footprint is preferred in this study. In the study, the relationship between environmental pollution and the aforementioned variables in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan between 1992-2021 was analyzed. As a result of the panel data analysis, it is concluded that the increase in GDP, energy consumption, trade openness and industrialization increases environmental pollution, while material productivity decreases environmental pollution. Based on these results, policy recommendations have been made.
Material Kuznets Curve, Economic Growth, Environmental Pollution, Turkic Republics