Hatay Province
Encyclopedia
Hatay Province is a province
in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. It is bordered by Syria
to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana
and Osmaniye
to the north. The province is part of Çukurova
, a geographical, economical and cultural region that covers the provinces of Mersin
, Adana, Osmaniye, and Hatay. The administrative capital is Antakya
(Antioch), while the largest city in the province is the port city of İskenderun
(Alexandretta). There are border crossing points with Syria in the district of Yayladağı
and at Cilvegözü in the district of Reyhanlı
.
Kingdom of Yamhad
and Mitannis, then a succession of Hittites
, the Neo-Hittite
"Hattena" people that later gave the modern province of Hatay its name, then the Assyrians (except a brief occupation by Urartu
) and Persians
. The region was the center of the Hellenistic Seleucid empire, home to the four Greek cities of the Syrian tetrapolis
(Antioch, Seleucia Pieria, Apamea
, and Laodicea). From 64 BC onwards the city of Antioch became an important regional centre of the Roman Empire
.
in 638 and came under the control of the Ummayad and Abbasid
Arab
dynasties. Then following the first Turkish conquest by the Tolunoğulları
tribe in 877 Hatay was controlled by various Turkish emirates, under the umbrella of the Seljuks and the Aleppo
-based Hamdanoğulları after a brief rule of Akşitler. In 969 the city of Antioch
recaptured by the Byzantine Empire
. It was conquered by Philaretos Brachamios
, a Byzantine general in 1078. He was Armenian and founded a principality from Antioch to Edessa
. It was captured by Suleiman I, was Sultan of Rum (ruler of Anatolian Seljuks) in 1084. It passed to Tutush I
, Sultan of Aleppo (ruler of Syria Seljuks) in 1086. Seljuk rule lasted 14 years until Hatay's capture by the Crusaders in 1098, when it became the centre of the Principality of Antioch
. Hatay was captured from the Crusaders by the Mameluks in 1268.
Sultan Selim I
in 1516 Antakya was a medium-sized town on 2 km² of land between the Orontes River
and Mount Habib Neccar. Under the Ottomans the area was known as the sanjak (or governorate) of Alexandretta. Gertrude Bell
in her book Syria The Desert & the Sown published in 1907 wrote extensively about her travels across Syria including Antioch & Alexandretta and she noted the heavy mix between Turks and Arabs in the region at that time. A map published circa 1911 highlighted that the ethnic make up (Alexandretta) was majority Arab with smaller communities of Armenians and Turks.
Many consider that Alexandretta had been traditionally part of Syria. Maps as far back as 1764 confirms this. After World War I and the Turkish Independence War the Ottoman Empire
was disbanded and modern Turkey was created, but Alexandretta was not part of the new republic, it was put within in the French mandate of Syria
after a signed agreement between the Allies and Turkey, the Treaty of Sèvres
, which was never ratified by the Sultan in Istanbul, nor accepted by the Ankara government. The document detailing the boundary between Turkey and Syria around 1920 and subsequent years is presented in a report by the Official Geographer of The Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the US Department of State. A French-Turkish treaty of 20 October 1921 rendered the Sanjak of Alexandretta autonomous, and remained so from 1921 to 1923. As well as Turks the population of the Sanjak included: Arab
s of various religious denominations (Sunni Muslims, Alawites,, Greek Orthodox
); Greek Catholics
, Syriac-Maronites; Jews; Syriacs; Kurd
s; and Armenians
. In 1923 Hatay was attached to the State of Aleppo
, and in 1925 it was directly attached to the French mandate of Syria
, still with special administrative status.
Despite this, a Turkish community remained in Alexandretta and Atatürk claimed that Hatay had been a Turkish homeland for 40 centuries. This was due to the "sun-theory" of language prevalent in 1930s in Turkey, which presumed that some ancient people of Anatolia and the Middle East such as the Sumerians and Hittites were related to the Turks. Accordingly, some original inhabitants of Southern Turkey including those surrounding Antakya were of Hittite ancestry, hence the name Hatay (this is close to the French pronunciation). Resident Arabs organised under the banner or Arabism, and in 1930, Zaki Alarsuzi, a teacher and lawyer from Arsuz on the coast of Alexandretta published a newspaper called 'Arabism' in Antioch that was shut down by Turkish and French authorities.
The 1936 elections returned two MPs favoring the independence of Syria from France, and this prompted communal riots as well as passionate articles in the Turkish and Syrian press. This then became the subject of a complaint to the League of Nations
by the Turkish government concerning alleged mistreatment of the Turkish populations. Atatürk demanded that Hatay become part of Turkey claiming that the majority of its inhabitants were Turks. The sanjak was given autonomy in November 1937 in an arrangement brokered by the League. Under its new statute, the sanjak became 'distinct but not separated' from the French mandate of Syria
on the diplomatic level, linked to both France and Turkey for defence matters.
In 1938, the Turkish military went into the Syrian province and expelled most of its Arab and Armenian inhabitants. Before this, Alawi Arabs and Armenians were the majority of the provinces population.
The allocation of seats in the sanjak assembly was based on the 1938 census held by the French authorities under international supervision: out of 40 seats, 22 were given to the Turks and 18 for the Arabs and their Armenian allies (nine for Alawi Arabs, five for Armenians, two for Sunni Arabs, and two for Christian Arabs). The assembly was appointed in the summer of 1938 and the French-Turkish treaty settling the status of the Sanjak was signed on 4 July 1938.
. The Republic lasted for one year under joint French and Turkish military supervision. The name "Hatay" itself was proposed by Atatürk, and the government was under Turkish control. The president Tayfur Sökmen
was a member of Turkish parliament elected in 1935 (representing Antalya
, and the prime minister Abdurrahman Melek
was also elected to the Turkish parliament (representing Gaziantep) in 1939 while still holding the prime-ministerial post.
, Hatay became a Turkish province. This referendum has been labeled both "phoney" and "rigged", and a way for the French to let Turks take over the area, hoping that they would turn on Hitler. France eventually came to oppose Turkish control of Hatay. The French provided arms to groups opposed to Turkish control including Kurdish Hoybûn, Armenian Tashnak organizations, and Assyrians. They also tried to collaborate with Alawis and Circassians against Turks. On the other hand, the Turkish government, too, made efforts to collaborate with other ethnic groups, especially the Alawis, whom they considered part of the Turkish community in Hatay. Together with the Alawis, Turks constituted a majority of the population in Hatay. The Turkish government gained the support of the Alawis by arguing that their lives would be better in the Turkish Republic than in the French mandate of Syria. They promoted the example of Alawis living elsewehere in Turkey, especially in Adana
. Turkish efforts to cooperate with Alawis bore fruit and some Alawis registered themselves as Turks for the elections. The Ankara government also collaborated with Circassians in Hatay, who were by then well integrated into Turkish society.
For the referendum, Turkey crossed tens of thousands of Turks into Alexandretta to vote. These were Turks born in Hatay who were now living elsewhere in Turkey. In two government communiqués in 1937 and 1938, the Turkish government asked all local government authorities to make lists of their employees originally from Hatay. Those who listed were then sent to Hatay to register as citizens and vote.
Syrian President Hashim al-Atassi
resigned in protest at continued French intervention in Syrian affairs, maintaining that the French were obliged to refuse the annexation under the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence of 1936
.
The Hassa
district of Gaziantep and Dörtyol
district of Adana were then incorporated to the province in order to increase the Turkish proportion of the population. The result was a flight of many Arabs and Armenians to Syria.
in Ottoman Syria
. After World War I, Hatay (then known as Alexandretta) became part of the French Mandate of Syria
. Unlike other regions historically belonging to Syrian provinces (such as Aintab, Kilis
and Urfa), Alexandretta was confirmed as Syrian territory in the Treaty of Lausanne
agreed upon by Kemal Atatürk; although it was granted a special autonomous status because it contained a large Turkish minority. However, culminating a series of border disputes with France-mandated Syria, Atatürk obtained in 1937 an agreement with France recognizing Alexandretta as an independent state, and in 1939 this state, called the Republic of Hatay, was annexed to Turkey as the 63rd Turkish province following a referendum. Syria bitterly disputed both the separation of Alexandretta and its subsequent annexation to Turkey.
Syria maintains that the separation of Alexandretta violated France's mandatory responsibility to maintain the unity of Syrian lands (article 4 of the mandate charter). It also disputes the results of the referendum held in the province, because according to a League of Nations commission that registered voters in Alexandretta in 1938, Turkish voters in the province represented no more than 46% of the population. Syria continues to consider Hatay part of its territory, and shows it as such on its maps. However, Turkey and Syria have strengthened their ties
and opened the border between the two countries.
Syrians hold the view that this land was illegally ceded to Turkey by France, the mandatory occupying power of Syria in the late 1930s. Syria still considers it an integral part of its own territory. Syrians call this land Liwa' aliskenderun rather than the Turkish name of Hatay. Official Syrian maps still show Hatay as part of Syria.
Under the leadership of Syrian President Bashar al Assad from 2000 onwards there was a lessening of tensions over the Hatay issue. Indeed, in early 2005, when visits from Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
and Turkish prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
opened a way to discussions between two states, it was claimed that the Syrian government announced it had no claims to sovereignty concerning Hatay any more. On the other hand there has been no official announcement by the Syrians relinquishing their rights of sovereignty.
Following changes to Turkish land registry legislation in 2003 a large number of properties in Hatay were purchased by Syrian nationals, mostly people who had been residents of Hatay since the 1930s but had retained their Syrian citizenship and were buying the properties that they already occupied. By 2006 the amount of land owned by Syrian nationals in Hatay exceeded the legal limit for foreign ownership of 0.5%, and sale of lands to foreigners
was prohibited.
There has been a policy of cross border co-operation, on the social and economic level, between Turkey and Syria in the recent years. This allowed families divided by the border to freely visit each other during the festive periods of Christmas
and Eid
. In December 2007 up to 27,000 Syrians and Turks crossed the border to visit their brethren on the other side. In the wake of an agreement in the autumn of 2009
to lift visa requirements, nationals of both countries can travel freely. However, out of 50 agreements signed between Turkey and Syria in December 2009, the Hatay dispute stalled a water agreement over the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Turkey asked Syria to publicly recognize Hatay as a Turkish territory before signing on to the agreement.
46% of the land is mountain, 33% plain and 20% plateau and hillside. The most prominent feature is the north-south leading Nur Mountains
and the highest peak is Mığırtepe (2240m), other peaks include Ziyaret dağı and Keldağ (Jebel Akra or Casius) at 1739 m. The folds of land that make up the landscape of the province were formed as the land masses of Arabian-Nubian Shield
and Anatolia
have pushed into each other, meeting here in Hatay, a classic example of the Horst–graben
formation. The Orontes River
rises in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and runs through Syria
and Hatay, where it reserves the Karasu
and the Afrin River
. It flows into the Mediterranean at its delta in Samandağ
. There was a lake
in the plain of Amik
but this was drained in the 1970s, and today Amik is now the largest of the plains and an important agricultural center. The climate is typical of the Mediterranean, with warm wet winters and hot, dry summers. The mountain areas inland are drier than the coast. There are some mineral deposits, İskenderun
is home to Turkey's largest iron and steel plant, and the district of Yayladağı
produces a colourful marble called Rose of Hatay.
which has very hot, long and dry summers with cool rainy winters.
s and Alawi
Muslim
s with a Arab Orthodox
Christian
minority. Hatay is home to Sunni Muslims, Alawi
Muslims, Syriac Orthodox
, Syriac Catholics
, Maronites
, Arab (Greek-Orthodox) and Armenian
communities. The village of Vakıflı
in the district of Samandağ
is Turkey's last remaining rural Armenian community while Arabs form the majority in three districts out of the twelve: Samandağ
(Suwaidiyyah) (Alawi
), Altınözü
(Qusair) and Reyhanlı
(Rihaniyyah) (Sunni). Unlike most Mediterranean provinces Hatay has not experienced mass immigration from other parts of Turkey in recent decades and has therefore preserved much of its traditional culture, for example Arabic
is still widely spoken in the province. To celebrate this cultural mix, in 2005 "Hatay Meeting of Civilisations" congress was organised by Dr Aydın Bozkurt of Mustafa Kemal University
and his "Hatay Association for the Protection of Universal Values".
Hatay is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.
is one of Turkey's newer tertiary institutions, founded in İskenderun
and Antakya
in 1992.
Altınözü
, Antakya
,
Belen, Dörtyol
, Erzin
, Hassa
, İskenderun
, Kırıkhan
, Kumlu
, Reyhanlı
, Samandağ
and Yayladağı
.
and sugar cane, and these are used in the local cuisine, along with other local specialities including a type of cucumber/squash called kitte. Well-known dishes of Hatay include the syrupy-pastry künefe, squash cooked in onions and tomato paste (sıhılmahsi), the aubergine and yoghurt paste (Baba ghanoush
), and the chick-pea paste hummus
as well as dishes such as kebab
which are found throughout Turkey. In general the people of Hatay produce lots of spicy dishes including the walnut and spice paste muhammara
), the spicy köfte called oruk, the thyme
and parsley
paste Za'atar
and the spicy sun-dried cheese called Surke. Finally, syrup of pomegranate
is a popular salad dressing particular to this area.
movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
, where it was portrayed as the final resting place of the Holy Grail in the "canyon of the crescent moon" outside of Alexandretta. In the movie, the Nazis
offer the "sultan
of Hatay" precious valuables to compensate for removing the Grail from his borders. He ignores the valuables, but accepts their Rolls-Royce Phantom II
. The Turkish film Propaganda (1999) by Sinan Çetin
, portrays the difficult materialisation of the Turkish-Syrian border in 1948, cutting through villages and families. The 2001 film Şelale by local director Semir Aslanyürek was filmed in Hatay.
Turkish
Provinces of Turkey
Turkey is divided into 81 provinces, called il in Turkish .A province is administered by an appointed governor , and was formerly termed a "governorate" ....
in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. It is bordered by Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana
Adana Province
Adana Province is a province of Turkey located in south-central Anatolia. With a population of 2,085,225, it is the fifth most populous province in Turkey. The administrative seat of the province is the city of Adana, home to 78% of the residents of the province...
and Osmaniye
Osmaniye Province
Osmaniye Province is a Turkish province located in southern Turkey. It became a province in 1996. The province was part of Adana Province. It covers an area of 3,767 km² and has a population of 479,221 . The province is situated in Çukurova, a geographical, economical and cultural region.The...
to the north. The province is part of Çukurova
Çukurova
Çukurova , historically known as Cilicia, is a geographic, economic and cultural region in south-central Turkey, covering the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay...
, a geographical, economical and cultural region that covers the provinces of Mersin
Mersin
-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...
, Adana, Osmaniye, and Hatay. The administrative capital is Antakya
Antakya
Antakya is the seat of the Hatay Province in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria. The mayor is Lütfü Savaş.Known as Antioch in ancient times, the city has historical significance for Christianity, as it was the place where the followers of Jesus Christ were called Christians for the first...
(Antioch), while the largest city in the province is the port city of İskenderun
Iskenderun
İskenderun is a city and urban district in the province of Hatay on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The current mayor is Yusuf Hamit Civelek .-Names:...
(Alexandretta). There are border crossing points with Syria in the district of Yayladağı
Yayladagi
Yayladağı is a town and district of Hatay Province in southern Turkey, on the border between Turkey and Syria, south of the city of Antakya. It was formerly known as Ordu-Muradiye.-History:...
and at Cilvegözü in the district of Reyhanlı
Reyhanli
Reyhanlı is a town and district of Hatay Province, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, near the country's border with Syria.- History :Formerly known as "İrtah" and "Reyhaniye", Reyhanli has been settled by Turks since the 16th century and in particular with Turkish "muhair" from the Caucasus...
.
Antiquity
Settled since the early Bronze Age, Hatay was once of the Akkadian Empire, then the AmoriteAmorite
Amorite refers to an ancient Semitic people who occupied large parts of Mesopotamia from the 21st Century BC...
Kingdom of Yamhad
Yamhad
Yamhad was an ancient Amorite kingdom centered at Halab . A substantial Hurrian population also settled in the kingdom, and the Hurrian culture influenced the area. The kingdom was powerful during the Middle Bronze Age, ca. 1800-1600 BC. Its biggest rival was Qatna further south...
and Mitannis, then a succession of Hittites
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
, the Neo-Hittite
Neo-Hittite
The states that are called Neo-Hittite, or more recently Syro-Hittite, were Luwian, Aramaic and Phoenician-speaking political entities of the Iron Age northern Syria and southern Anatolia that arose following the collapse of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BC and lasted until roughly 700 BC...
"Hattena" people that later gave the modern province of Hatay its name, then the Assyrians (except a brief occupation by Urartu
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
) and Persians
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
. The region was the center of the Hellenistic Seleucid empire, home to the four Greek cities of the Syrian tetrapolis
Syrian tetrapolis
The Syrian Tetrapolis consisted of the cities Antioch, Seleucia Pieria, Apamea, and Laodicea in Syria.-References:* Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., s.v. 'Seleucia'....
(Antioch, Seleucia Pieria, Apamea
Apamea (Syria)
Apamea was a treasure city and stud-depot of the Seleucid kings, was capital of Apamene, on the right bank of the Orontes River. . Its site is found about to the northwest of Hama, Syria, overlooking the Ghab valley...
, and Laodicea). From 64 BC onwards the city of Antioch became an important regional centre of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
Islamic era
The area was conquered by the armies of IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in 638 and came under the control of the Ummayad and Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
dynasties. Then following the first Turkish conquest by the Tolunoğulları
Tulunids
The Tulunids were the first independent dynasty in Islamic Egypt , when they broke away from the central authority of the Abbasid dynasty that ruled the Islamic Caliphate during that time...
tribe in 877 Hatay was controlled by various Turkish emirates, under the umbrella of the Seljuks and the Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
-based Hamdanoğulları after a brief rule of Akşitler. In 969 the city of Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
recaptured by the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. It was conquered by Philaretos Brachamios
Philaretos Brachamios
Philaretos Brachamios was a distinguished Byzantine general and warlord of Armenian heritage, and for a time was a usurper against emperor Michael VII...
, a Byzantine general in 1078. He was Armenian and founded a principality from Antioch to Edessa
Sanliurfa
Şanlıurfa, , often simply known as Urfa in daily language , in ancient times Edessa, is a city with 482,323 inhabitants Şanlıurfa, , often simply known as Urfa in daily language (Syriac ܐܘܪܗܝ Urhoy,Armenian Ուռհա Owr'ha, Arabic الرها ar-Ruhā), in ancient times Edessa, is a city with 482,323...
. It was captured by Suleiman I, was Sultan of Rum (ruler of Anatolian Seljuks) in 1084. It passed to Tutush I
Tutush I
Abu Sa'id Taj ad-Dawla Tutush I was the Seljuq ruler of Damascus from 1079 to 1095, succeeding Abaaq al-Khwarazmi. He finished the construction of the Citadel of Damascus, a project that had begun under the direction of Abaaq al Khwarizmi...
, Sultan of Aleppo (ruler of Syria Seljuks) in 1086. Seljuk rule lasted 14 years until Hatay's capture by the Crusaders in 1098, when it became the centre of the Principality of Antioch
Principality of Antioch
The Principality of Antioch, including parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria, was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade.-Foundation:...
. Hatay was captured from the Crusaders by the Mameluks in 1268.
Sanjak of Alexandretta
By the time it was taken from the Mameluks by the OttomanOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Sultan Selim I
Selim I
Selim I, Yavuz Sultân Selim Khan, Hâdim-ül Haramain-ish Sharifain , nicknamed Yavuz "the Stern" or "the Steadfast", but often rendered in English as "the Grim" , was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to...
in 1516 Antakya was a medium-sized town on 2 km² of land between the Orontes River
Orontes River
The Orontes or ‘Āṣī is a river of Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.It was anciently the chief river of the Levant, also called Draco, Typhon and Axius...
and Mount Habib Neccar. Under the Ottomans the area was known as the sanjak (or governorate) of Alexandretta. Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along...
in her book Syria The Desert & the Sown published in 1907 wrote extensively about her travels across Syria including Antioch & Alexandretta and she noted the heavy mix between Turks and Arabs in the region at that time. A map published circa 1911 highlighted that the ethnic make up (Alexandretta) was majority Arab with smaller communities of Armenians and Turks.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
was disbanded and modern Turkey was created, but Alexandretta was not part of the new republic, it was put within in the French mandate of Syria
French Mandate of Syria
Officially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
after a signed agreement between the Allies and Turkey, the Treaty of Sèvres
Treaty of Sèvres
The Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany before this treaty to annul the German concessions including the economic rights and enterprises. Also, France, Great Britain and Italy...
, which was never ratified by the Sultan in Istanbul, nor accepted by the Ankara government. The document detailing the boundary between Turkey and Syria around 1920 and subsequent years is presented in a report by the Official Geographer of The Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the US Department of State. A French-Turkish treaty of 20 October 1921 rendered the Sanjak of Alexandretta autonomous, and remained so from 1921 to 1923. As well as Turks the population of the Sanjak included: Arab
Arabs in Turkey
The Arabs in Turkey are a Semitic people.Arabs in Turkey are mostly Muslims living along the southeastern border with Syria in the provinces such as Batman, Bitlis, Gaziantep, Hatay, Mardin, Muş, Siirt, Şırnak and Şanlıurfa. The Arabs in this part of the border consist of many Bedouin tribes...
s of various religious denominations (Sunni Muslims, Alawites,, Greek Orthodox
Antiochian Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, also known as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East and the Antiochian Orthodox Church , is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity...
); Greek Catholics
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
, Syriac-Maronites; Jews; Syriacs; Kurd
Kürd
Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...
s; and Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
. In 1923 Hatay was attached to the State of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
, and in 1925 it was directly attached to the French mandate of Syria
French Mandate of Syria
Officially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
, still with special administrative status.
The 1936 elections returned two MPs favoring the independence of Syria from France, and this prompted communal riots as well as passionate articles in the Turkish and Syrian press. This then became the subject of a complaint to the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
by the Turkish government concerning alleged mistreatment of the Turkish populations. Atatürk demanded that Hatay become part of Turkey claiming that the majority of its inhabitants were Turks. The sanjak was given autonomy in November 1937 in an arrangement brokered by the League. Under its new statute, the sanjak became 'distinct but not separated' from the French mandate of Syria
French Mandate of Syria
Officially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
on the diplomatic level, linked to both France and Turkey for defence matters.
In 1938, the Turkish military went into the Syrian province and expelled most of its Arab and Armenian inhabitants. Before this, Alawi Arabs and Armenians were the majority of the provinces population.
The allocation of seats in the sanjak assembly was based on the 1938 census held by the French authorities under international supervision: out of 40 seats, 22 were given to the Turks and 18 for the Arabs and their Armenian allies (nine for Alawi Arabs, five for Armenians, two for Sunni Arabs, and two for Christian Arabs). The assembly was appointed in the summer of 1938 and the French-Turkish treaty settling the status of the Sanjak was signed on 4 July 1938.
Republic of Hatay
On 2 September 1938, as the Second World War loomed over Europe, the assembly proclaimed the Republic of HatayRepublic of Hatay
Hatay State , also known informally as the Republic of Hatay, was a transitional political entity that formally existed from September 7, 1938 to June 29, 1939 in the territory of the Sanjak of Alexandretta of the French Mandate of Syria. The State was transformed de jure into the Hatay Province on...
. The Republic lasted for one year under joint French and Turkish military supervision. The name "Hatay" itself was proposed by Atatürk, and the government was under Turkish control. The president Tayfur Sökmen
Tayfur Sökmen
Tayfur Sökmen was the president of the Republic of Hatay during its existence .-Sources:* Sökmen, Tayfur: , Ankara 1992, ISBN 975-16-0499-0...
was a member of Turkish parliament elected in 1935 (representing Antalya
Antalya
Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :...
, and the prime minister Abdurrahman Melek
Abdurrahman Melek
Abdurrahman Melek was the prime minister of the Republic of Hatay during its existence .- References :...
was also elected to the Turkish parliament (representing Gaziantep) in 1939 while still holding the prime-ministerial post.
Hatay Province of Turkey
In 1939, following a popular referendumReferendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
, Hatay became a Turkish province. This referendum has been labeled both "phoney" and "rigged", and a way for the French to let Turks take over the area, hoping that they would turn on Hitler. France eventually came to oppose Turkish control of Hatay. The French provided arms to groups opposed to Turkish control including Kurdish Hoybûn, Armenian Tashnak organizations, and Assyrians. They also tried to collaborate with Alawis and Circassians against Turks. On the other hand, the Turkish government, too, made efforts to collaborate with other ethnic groups, especially the Alawis, whom they considered part of the Turkish community in Hatay. Together with the Alawis, Turks constituted a majority of the population in Hatay. The Turkish government gained the support of the Alawis by arguing that their lives would be better in the Turkish Republic than in the French mandate of Syria. They promoted the example of Alawis living elsewehere in Turkey, especially in Adana
Adana
Adana is a city in southern Turkey and a major agricultural and commercial center. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean, in south-central Anatolia...
. Turkish efforts to cooperate with Alawis bore fruit and some Alawis registered themselves as Turks for the elections. The Ankara government also collaborated with Circassians in Hatay, who were by then well integrated into Turkish society.
For the referendum, Turkey crossed tens of thousands of Turks into Alexandretta to vote. These were Turks born in Hatay who were now living elsewhere in Turkey. In two government communiqués in 1937 and 1938, the Turkish government asked all local government authorities to make lists of their employees originally from Hatay. Those who listed were then sent to Hatay to register as citizens and vote.
Syrian President Hashim al-Atassi
Hashim al-Atassi
Hashim Bay Khalid al-Atassi was a Syrian nationalist, statesman and its President from 1936 to 1939, 1949 to 1951, and 1954 to 1955.- Background and early career :...
resigned in protest at continued French intervention in Syrian affairs, maintaining that the French were obliged to refuse the annexation under the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence of 1936
Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence (1936)
The Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence was a treaty negotiated between France and Syria to provide for Syrian independence from French authority, which had been imposed under a League of Nations Mandate.- Explanation :...
.
The Hassa
Hassa, Turkey
Hassa is a district of Hatay Province, Turkey on the eastern side of the Nur Mountains, looking towards the city of Gaziantep. It is on the Antakya-Malatya road. Hassa was a district in Cebel-i Bereket Province from 1923 to 1933 and then a part of Gaziantep Province until 1939.Hassa is an...
district of Gaziantep and Dörtyol
Dörtyol
Dörtyol is a port city and oil terminus at the head of the Gulf of İskenderun, near the easternmost point of the Mediterranean coast. Dörtyol is located 26 km north of the city of Iskenderun in the province of Hatay in southeastern Turkey.-Geography:...
district of Adana were then incorporated to the province in order to increase the Turkish proportion of the population. The result was a flight of many Arabs and Armenians to Syria.
Turkish-Syrian dispute
In Ottoman times, Hatay was part of the Vilayet of AleppoVilayet of Aleppo
The Vilayet of Aleppo was a vilayet or province of the Ottoman Empire centered around Aleppo.-History:Thanks to its strategic geographic location on the trade route between Anatolia and the east, Aleppo rose to high prominence in the Ottoman era, at one point being second only to Constantinople in...
in Ottoman Syria
Ottoman Syria
Ottoman Syria is a European reference to the area that during European Renaissance from the late 15th to early 18th century was called the Levant within the early period of the Ottoman Empire, the Orient until the early 19th century, and Greater Syria until 1918...
. After World War I, Hatay (then known as Alexandretta) became part of the French Mandate of Syria
French Mandate of Syria
Officially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
. Unlike other regions historically belonging to Syrian provinces (such as Aintab, Kilis
Kilis
Kilis is a city in south-central Turkey on the border with Syria and capital of Kilis Province.- History and Population :Kilis was part of the vilayet of Aleppo of the Ottoman Empire until the First World War when it was given to Turkey and had a mixed population of Circassians, Turkomans and Arabs...
and Urfa), Alexandretta was confirmed as Syrian territory in the Treaty of Lausanne
Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Lausanne was ratified by the Greek government on 11 February 1924, by the Turkish government on 31...
agreed upon by Kemal Atatürk; although it was granted a special autonomous status because it contained a large Turkish minority. However, culminating a series of border disputes with France-mandated Syria, Atatürk obtained in 1937 an agreement with France recognizing Alexandretta as an independent state, and in 1939 this state, called the Republic of Hatay, was annexed to Turkey as the 63rd Turkish province following a referendum. Syria bitterly disputed both the separation of Alexandretta and its subsequent annexation to Turkey.
Syria maintains that the separation of Alexandretta violated France's mandatory responsibility to maintain the unity of Syrian lands (article 4 of the mandate charter). It also disputes the results of the referendum held in the province, because according to a League of Nations commission that registered voters in Alexandretta in 1938, Turkish voters in the province represented no more than 46% of the population. Syria continues to consider Hatay part of its territory, and shows it as such on its maps. However, Turkey and Syria have strengthened their ties
Syria–Turkey relations
Syrian–Turkish relations have long been strained, even though Turkey shares its longest common border with Syria; various geographic and historical links also tie the two neighboring states together....
and opened the border between the two countries.
Syrians hold the view that this land was illegally ceded to Turkey by France, the mandatory occupying power of Syria in the late 1930s. Syria still considers it an integral part of its own territory. Syrians call this land Liwa' aliskenderun rather than the Turkish name of Hatay. Official Syrian maps still show Hatay as part of Syria.
Under the leadership of Syrian President Bashar al Assad from 2000 onwards there was a lessening of tensions over the Hatay issue. Indeed, in early 2005, when visits from Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Ahmet Necdet Sezer
- External links :* , Presidency of the Republic of Turkey...
and Turkish prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
opened a way to discussions between two states, it was claimed that the Syrian government announced it had no claims to sovereignty concerning Hatay any more. On the other hand there has been no official announcement by the Syrians relinquishing their rights of sovereignty.
Following changes to Turkish land registry legislation in 2003 a large number of properties in Hatay were purchased by Syrian nationals, mostly people who had been residents of Hatay since the 1930s but had retained their Syrian citizenship and were buying the properties that they already occupied. By 2006 the amount of land owned by Syrian nationals in Hatay exceeded the legal limit for foreign ownership of 0.5%, and sale of lands to foreigners
Foreign purchases of real estate in Turkey
Purchasing property in Turkey has become more popular with holiday home owners and investors around the globe. Several factors have contributed to the popularity and the trend displayed by foreign purchases and have had important repercussions within Turkey. The issue is especially notable given...
was prohibited.
There has been a policy of cross border co-operation, on the social and economic level, between Turkey and Syria in the recent years. This allowed families divided by the border to freely visit each other during the festive periods of Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and Eid
Eid ul-Fitr
Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Fitr, Id-ul-Fitr, or Id al-Fitr , often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting . Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity," while Fiṭr means "breaking the fast"...
. In December 2007 up to 27,000 Syrians and Turks crossed the border to visit their brethren on the other side. In the wake of an agreement in the autumn of 2009
to lift visa requirements, nationals of both countries can travel freely. However, out of 50 agreements signed between Turkey and Syria in December 2009, the Hatay dispute stalled a water agreement over the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Turkey asked Syria to publicly recognize Hatay as a Turkish territory before signing on to the agreement.
Geography
Nur Mountains
The Nur Mountains , also known as Gâvur Mountains , the ancient Amanus , is a mountain range in the Hatay Province of south-central Turkey, which runs roughly parallel to the Gulf of İskenderun....
and the highest peak is Mığırtepe (2240m), other peaks include Ziyaret dağı and Keldağ (Jebel Akra or Casius) at 1739 m. The folds of land that make up the landscape of the province were formed as the land masses of Arabian-Nubian Shield
Arabian-Nubian Shield
The Arabian-Nubian Shield is an exposure of Precambrian crystalline rocks on the flanks of the Red Sea. The crystalline rocks are mostly Neoproterozoic in age. Geographically - and from north to south - the ANS includes the nations of Israel, Jordan. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Eritrea,...
and Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
have pushed into each other, meeting here in Hatay, a classic example of the Horst–graben
Graben
In geology, a graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults. Graben is German for ditch. Graben is used for both the singular and plural....
formation. The Orontes River
Orontes River
The Orontes or ‘Āṣī is a river of Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.It was anciently the chief river of the Levant, also called Draco, Typhon and Axius...
rises in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and runs through Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Hatay, where it reserves the Karasu
Karasu (Hatay)
The Karasu or Aswad is a river in the provinces of Gaziantep and Hatay in Turkey. For part of its length it forms the border with Aleppo Governorate in Syria. It joins the Afrin River at the site of the former Lake Amik, and its waters now flow to the Orontes by a canal....
and the Afrin River
Afrin River
The Afrin River is a tributary of the Orontes River in Turkey and Syria. It rises in the Kartal Mountains in Gaziantep Province, Turkey, flows south through the city of Afrin in Syria, then reenters Turkey. It joins the Karasu at the site of the former Lake Amik, and its waters now flow to the...
. It flows into the Mediterranean at its delta in Samandağ
Samandag
Seleucia Pieria was a town in antiquity, the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria Prima. It was the port of the western Seleucid capital of Antioch, lying close to the mouth of the Orontes. Its ruins lie at the seaside village of Çevliknear the town of Samandağ in the Hatay Province of Turkey...
. There was a lake
Lake Amik
Lake Amik or the Lake of Antioch was a large freshwater lake in the basin of the Orontes River in Hatay Province, Turkey; it was located north-east of the ancient city of Antioch...
in the plain of Amik
Amik
Amik was the mascot of the 1976 Summer Olympics. Amik was a beaver. In the Anishinaabe language, amik means "beaver." The beaver was chosen as mascot, because it represents hard work and it is also an animal native to Canada, the country where the games were held.The next Olympic mascot was...
but this was drained in the 1970s, and today Amik is now the largest of the plains and an important agricultural center. The climate is typical of the Mediterranean, with warm wet winters and hot, dry summers. The mountain areas inland are drier than the coast. There are some mineral deposits, İskenderun
Iskenderun
İskenderun is a city and urban district in the province of Hatay on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The current mayor is Yusuf Hamit Civelek .-Names:...
is home to Turkey's largest iron and steel plant, and the district of Yayladağı
Yayladagi
Yayladağı is a town and district of Hatay Province in southern Turkey, on the border between Turkey and Syria, south of the city of Antakya. It was formerly known as Ordu-Muradiye.-History:...
produces a colourful marble called Rose of Hatay.
Climate
Hatay has a Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
which has very hot, long and dry summers with cool rainy winters.
Demography
The 1.5 million population of Hatay province is divided almost equally between Sunni MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s and Alawi
Alawi
The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris are a prominent mystical and syncretic religious group centred in Syria who are a branch of Shia Islam.-Etymology:...
Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s with a Arab Orthodox
Arab Orthodox
The Arab Orthodox are Arab Greek Orthodox Christian communities which have existed in Greater Syria since the early years of Christianity. During the Palestine Mandate they were prominent in many of the major cities including Jaffa, Nazareth, Haifa and Jerusalem and also formed the majority of...
Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
minority. Hatay is home to Sunni Muslims, Alawi
Alawi
The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris are a prominent mystical and syncretic religious group centred in Syria who are a branch of Shia Islam.-Etymology:...
Muslims, Syriac Orthodox
Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....
, Syriac Catholics
Syriac Catholic Church
The Syriac Catholic Church is a Christian church in the Levant having practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. They are one of the Eastern Catholic Churches following the Antiochene rite, the Syriac tradition of Antioch, along with the Maronites and Syro-Malankara Christians...
, Maronites
Maronites
Maronites , is an ethnoreligious group in the Middle East that have been historically tied with Lebanon. They derive their name from the Syriac saint Mar Maron whose followers moved to Mount Lebanon from northern Syria establishing the Maronite Church....
, Arab (Greek-Orthodox) and Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
communities. The village of Vakıflı
Vakifli, Samandag
Vakıflı Köyü is the only remaining ethnic Armenian village in Turkey. Located on the slopes of Musa Dagh in the Samandağ district of Hatay Province, the village overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and is within eyesight of the Syrian border. It is home to a community of about 130 Turkish-Armenians...
in the district of Samandağ
Samandag
Seleucia Pieria was a town in antiquity, the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria Prima. It was the port of the western Seleucid capital of Antioch, lying close to the mouth of the Orontes. Its ruins lie at the seaside village of Çevliknear the town of Samandağ in the Hatay Province of Turkey...
is Turkey's last remaining rural Armenian community while Arabs form the majority in three districts out of the twelve: Samandağ
Samandag
Seleucia Pieria was a town in antiquity, the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria Prima. It was the port of the western Seleucid capital of Antioch, lying close to the mouth of the Orontes. Its ruins lie at the seaside village of Çevliknear the town of Samandağ in the Hatay Province of Turkey...
(Suwaidiyyah) (Alawi
Alawi
The Alawis, also known as Alawites, Nusayris and Ansaris are a prominent mystical and syncretic religious group centred in Syria who are a branch of Shia Islam.-Etymology:...
), Altınözü
Altinözü
Altınözü is a district in the south-east of Hatay Province of Turkey, on the border between Turkey and Syria. The mayor is Mehmet Cavid Alkan .-Etymology:The area was previously known as Kuseyr a derivation from kasr the Arabic word for castle....
(Qusair) and Reyhanlı
Reyhanli
Reyhanlı is a town and district of Hatay Province, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, near the country's border with Syria.- History :Formerly known as "İrtah" and "Reyhaniye", Reyhanli has been settled by Turks since the 16th century and in particular with Turkish "muhair" from the Caucasus...
(Rihaniyyah) (Sunni). Unlike most Mediterranean provinces Hatay has not experienced mass immigration from other parts of Turkey in recent decades and has therefore preserved much of its traditional culture, for example Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
is still widely spoken in the province. To celebrate this cultural mix, in 2005 "Hatay Meeting of Civilisations" congress was organised by Dr Aydın Bozkurt of Mustafa Kemal University
Mustafa Kemal University
Mustafa Kemal University , abbreviaed as MKU, is a public university established 1992 at Antakya, Hatay Province in southern Turkey. It is named after the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk....
and his "Hatay Association for the Protection of Universal Values".
Hatay is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.
Education
Mustafa Kemal UniversityMustafa Kemal University
Mustafa Kemal University , abbreviaed as MKU, is a public university established 1992 at Antakya, Hatay Province in southern Turkey. It is named after the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk....
is one of Turkey's newer tertiary institutions, founded in İskenderun
Iskenderun
İskenderun is a city and urban district in the province of Hatay on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The current mayor is Yusuf Hamit Civelek .-Names:...
and Antakya
Antakya
Antakya is the seat of the Hatay Province in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria. The mayor is Lütfü Savaş.Known as Antioch in ancient times, the city has historical significance for Christianity, as it was the place where the followers of Jesus Christ were called Christians for the first...
in 1992.
Districts
Hatay province is divided into 12 districtsDistricts of Turkey
The 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 957 districts . In the early Turkish Republic and in the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the kaza....
Altınözü
Altinözü
Altınözü is a district in the south-east of Hatay Province of Turkey, on the border between Turkey and Syria. The mayor is Mehmet Cavid Alkan .-Etymology:The area was previously known as Kuseyr a derivation from kasr the Arabic word for castle....
, Antakya
Antakya
Antakya is the seat of the Hatay Province in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria. The mayor is Lütfü Savaş.Known as Antioch in ancient times, the city has historical significance for Christianity, as it was the place where the followers of Jesus Christ were called Christians for the first...
,
Belen, Dörtyol
Dörtyol
Dörtyol is a port city and oil terminus at the head of the Gulf of İskenderun, near the easternmost point of the Mediterranean coast. Dörtyol is located 26 km north of the city of Iskenderun in the province of Hatay in southeastern Turkey.-Geography:...
, Erzin
Erzin
Erzin, also known as Yeşilkent, is a city in the province of Hatay, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The mayor is Kasım Şimşek .- Geography :...
, Hassa
Hassa, Turkey
Hassa is a district of Hatay Province, Turkey on the eastern side of the Nur Mountains, looking towards the city of Gaziantep. It is on the Antakya-Malatya road. Hassa was a district in Cebel-i Bereket Province from 1923 to 1933 and then a part of Gaziantep Province until 1939.Hassa is an...
, İskenderun
Iskenderun
İskenderun is a city and urban district in the province of Hatay on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The current mayor is Yusuf Hamit Civelek .-Names:...
, Kırıkhan
Kirikhan
Kırıkhan is a town and district in the northeastern part of Hatay Province, Turkey. The name Kırıkhan means “broken inn” in the Turkish language, perhaps a reference to one of the many lodgings that once lined the road...
, Kumlu
Kumlu
Kumlu is a district of Hatay Province, Turkey, in the Amik plain, on the road between Antakya and Reyhanlı.Kumlu is known for the mineral baths of "Hamamat"....
, Reyhanlı
Reyhanli
Reyhanlı is a town and district of Hatay Province, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, near the country's border with Syria.- History :Formerly known as "İrtah" and "Reyhaniye", Reyhanli has been settled by Turks since the 16th century and in particular with Turkish "muhair" from the Caucasus...
, Samandağ
Samandag
Seleucia Pieria was a town in antiquity, the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria Prima. It was the port of the western Seleucid capital of Antioch, lying close to the mouth of the Orontes. Its ruins lie at the seaside village of Çevliknear the town of Samandağ in the Hatay Province of Turkey...
and Yayladağı
Yayladagi
Yayladağı is a town and district of Hatay Province in southern Turkey, on the border between Turkey and Syria, south of the city of Antakya. It was formerly known as Ordu-Muradiye.-History:...
.
Cuisine
Hatay is warm enough to grow tropical crops such as sweet potatoSweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
and sugar cane, and these are used in the local cuisine, along with other local specialities including a type of cucumber/squash called kitte. Well-known dishes of Hatay include the syrupy-pastry künefe, squash cooked in onions and tomato paste (sıhılmahsi), the aubergine and yoghurt paste (Baba ghanoush
Baba ghanoush
Baba ghanoush, baba ganush, baba ghannouj or baba ghannoug is a Levantine dish of aubergine mashed and mixed with virgin olive oil and various seasonings. A popular preparation method is for the eggplant to be baked or broiled over an open flame before peeling, so that the pulp is soft and has a...
), and the chick-pea paste hummus
Hummus
Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the...
as well as dishes such as kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
which are found throughout Turkey. In general the people of Hatay produce lots of spicy dishes including the walnut and spice paste muhammara
Muhammara
Muhammara or mhammara is a hot pepper dip originally from Aleppo, Syria, and now found in many places in Anatolia and the Levant.The principal ingredients are usually fresh or dried peppers, ground walnuts, breadcrumbs, and olive oil. It may also contain garlic, salt, lemon juice, pomegranate...
), the spicy köfte called oruk, the thyme
Thyme
Thyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...
and parsley
Parsley
Parsley is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region , naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb, a spice and a vegetable.- Description :Garden parsley is a bright green hairless biennial herbaceous plant in temperate...
paste Za'atar
Za'atar
Za'atar is a generic name for a family of related Middle Eastern herbs from the genera Origanum , Calamintha , Thymus vulgaris and Satureja . It is also the name for a condiment made from the dried herb, mixed together with sesame seeds, dried sumac, and often salt, as well as other spices...
and the spicy sun-dried cheese called Surke. Finally, syrup of pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
is a popular salad dressing particular to this area.
Landmarks
- World's second-largest collection of RomanRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
mosaics in Antakya museum - Rock-carved Church of St Peter in Antakya, a site of Christian pilgrimage.
- Gündüz cinema, once parliament building of the Republic of Hatay.
- Tunnel of VespasianVespasianVespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, in Samandağı, built as a water channel in the 2nd century.
Notable residents
- Mehmet AksoyMehmet AksoyMehmet Aksoy is a Turkish sculptor. He is one of the major sculptors in modern Turkey .-Early life:He was born 1939 in Kesap, a town that is today within Syrian territories...
- sculptor (b. Antakya 1939 - ) http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=101239 - Gökhan ZanGökhan ZanGökhan Zan is a Turkish football defender who currently plays for Turkcell Süper Lig club Galatasaray.-Club career:...
- GalatasarayGalatasarayGalatasaray Spor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club based in Istanbul, most notable for its football section, also known as Galatasaray S.K.. It also fields teams in Athletics, Basketball, Wheelchair basketball, Volleyball, Water polo, Swimming, Rowing, Sailing, Judo, Bridge, Equestrian, Handball,...
footballer, (b. Antakya 1981 ) - Selçuk İnanSelçuk InanSelçuk İnan is a Turkish international footballer. He currently plays as a midfielder for the Turkish team Galatasaray in the Süper Lig. Usually deployed as a deep-lying playmaker for both Galatasaray and Turkey...
- TrabzonsporTrabzonsporTrabzonspor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Trabzon, Turkey. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor won six championships in Turkish Super League. The Club won their first Championship title in 1975 which is also the Club's initiation year...
footballer, (b. İskenderun 1985 ) - Yasin ÖzdenakYasin ÖzdenakYasin Özdenak is a former Turkish football goalkeeper and now an active coach. He is currently employed by Hume City FC as the Technical Director of the Club....
- Retired GalatasarayGalatasarayGalatasaray Spor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club based in Istanbul, most notable for its football section, also known as Galatasaray S.K.. It also fields teams in Athletics, Basketball, Wheelchair basketball, Volleyball, Water polo, Swimming, Rowing, Sailing, Judo, Bridge, Equestrian, Handball,...
footballer, (b. İskenderun 1948 )
Films
Hatay figured in the Indiana JonesIndiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
, where it was portrayed as the final resting place of the Holy Grail in the "canyon of the crescent moon" outside of Alexandretta. In the movie, the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
offer the "sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
of Hatay" precious valuables to compensate for removing the Grail from his borders. He ignores the valuables, but accepts their Rolls-Royce Phantom II
Rolls-Royce Phantom II
The Phantom II replaced the New Phantom in Rolls-Royce's offerings in 1929.-Description:It shared the 7.7 L pushrod-OHV straight-6 engine from its predecessor, being the last large six-cylinder Rolls. The engine was unitary with a 4-speed manual transmission...
. The Turkish film Propaganda (1999) by Sinan Çetin
Sinan Çetin
Sinan Çetin is a Turkish actor, film director, and producer.Çetin was born as the son of a customs officer and studied art history at Hacettepe University. Çetin has produced full-length films and television series, and foremost, commercials...
, portrays the difficult materialisation of the Turkish-Syrian border in 1948, cutting through villages and families. The 2001 film Şelale by local director Semir Aslanyürek was filmed in Hatay.
External links
- Hatay News
- pictures Photo Galery
- the provincial governor's website
- http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/AntakyaPictures of AntakyaAntakyaAntakya is the seat of the Hatay Province in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria. The mayor is Lütfü Savaş.Known as Antioch in ancient times, the city has historical significance for Christianity, as it was the place where the followers of Jesus Christ were called Christians for the first...
] - Pictures of Antakya Museum
- Pictures of Hatay
- Flag and info of the Republic of Hatay
- Hatay Weather Forecast Information
- Hatay Radio Stations
- Tourist Information and pictures about Hatay/Antakya with Webcams and weather information
- Hatay Radio Station
Turkish