Hatay Province
Hatay Province
Hatay ili | |
---|---|
Country | Turkey |
Seat | Antakya |
Government | |
• Mayor | Mehmet Öntürk (AKP) |
• Vali | Mustafa Masatlı |
Area | 5,524 km2 (2,133 sq mi) |
Population (2022)[1] | 1,686,043 |
• Density | 310/km2 (790/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
Area code | 0326 |
Website | www www |
Hatay Province (
History
Antiquity
Settled since the early Bronze Age, Hatay was once part of the
The Neo-Hittite kingdom of Palistin was also located here.
The area came under the control of Assyrians (except for a brief occupation by Urartu), and later the Neo-Babylonians and the Persians.
The region was the center of the Hellenistic
Among the famous archaeological sites in the province are Alalakh, Tell Tayinat, Tell Judaidah, and Antioch.
Medieval era
The area was conquered by the
Sanjak of Alexandretta
By the time it was taken from the Mameluks by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I in 1516, Antakya was a medium-sized town on 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi) 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.
Many believe that Alexandretta had traditionally been a part of Syria. Maps as far back as 1764 confirm this.[7] During the First World War in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated most of Syria was occupied by the British forces. But when the Armistice of Mudros was signed at the end of the war, Hatay was still part of the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, after the armistice it was occupied by the British forces an operation which was never accepted by the Ottoman side. Later like the rest of Syria it was handed to France by the British Empire.
After World War I and the
Despite this, a Turkish community remained in Alexandretta, and
The 1936 elections returned two MPs favouring 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
Hatay State
Hatay State (
Hatay Province of Turkey
On 29 June 1939, following a referendum, Hatay became a Turkish province. This referendum has been labelled both "phoney" and "rigged", and is seen as a way for the French to cede the area to Turkey, in the hope that they would turn on Hitler.[14][15] For the referendum, Turkey moved tens of thousands of Turks into Alexandretta so they could vote.[16] These Turks were born in Hatay but now they were living in other regions of Turkey. In two government communiqués which were issued in 1937 and 1938, the Turkish government asked all local government authorities to make lists of all of their employees who were originally from Hatay. Those employees whose names were listed were then sent to Hatay so they could register as citizens and vote.[17]
Syrian President
The
Turkish–Syrian dispute
For much of its premodern history,
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.[21] Syria continues to consider Hatay part of its territory as of the 2010s, and shows it as such on its maps.[22][23] At the same time, 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 (
Under the leadership of Syrian President
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
There has been a policy of cross border co-operation, on the social and economic level, between Turkey and Syria starting in the 2000s. This allowed families divided by the border to freely visit each other during the festive periods of
Apart from maps showing Hatay as Syrian territory, the Syrian policy has been to avoid discussing Hatay and giving evasive answers when asked to specify Syrian future goals and ambitions with regard to the area. This has included a complete media silence on the issue.[29] In February 2011 the dispute over Hatay was almost solved. The border separating Syria from Hatay was going to be blurred by a shared Friendship Dam on the Orontes river and as part of this project the two states had agreed on the national jurisdiction on each side of the border. Only weeks before the outbreak of the Syrian uprising and later war, groundbreaking ceremonies were held in Hatay and Idlib. As a result of the Syrian war and the extremely tense Turkish-Syrian relations it brought, construction was halted. As part of the ongoing war, the question of the sovereignty of Hatay has resurfaced in Syria and the Syrian media silence has been broken. Syrian media began broadcasting documentaries on the history of the area, the Turkish annexation and Turkification policies. Syrian newspapers have also reported on demonstrations in Hatay and on organizations and parties in Syria demanding an "end to the Turkish occupation".[30] However, although the Syrian government has repeatedly criticized the Turkish policies towards Syria and the armed rebel groups operating on Syrian territory, it has not officially brought up the question of Hatay.[31]
2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes
Hatay Province was heavily damaged by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes.[32] The province registered 23,065 earthquake-related fatalities and 30,762 injuries.[33][34] More than 13,500 buildings collapsed, 67,346 were heavily damaged and 8,162 had to be demolished.[35] The most affected areas were Antakya, Kırıkhan and İskenderun.[36]
Geography
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2023) |
Hatay is traversed by the north-easterly line of equal latitude and longitude. 46% of the land is mountain, 33% plain and 20% plateau and hillside. The most prominent feature is the north-south leading
Climate
Hatay has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) or a dry-summer humid subtropical climate (Trewartha: 'wet' Cs or Cf) which has hot, long and dry summers and mild, rainy winters.
Climate data for Hatay (1991–2020, extremes 1940–2020) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 20.5 (68.9) |
26.6 (79.9) |
30.5 (86.9) |
37.5 (99.5) |
42.5 (108.5) |
43.2 (109.8) |
44.6 (112.3) |
43.9 (111.0) |
43.5 (110.3) |
39.2 (102.6) |
32.5 (90.5) |
25.1 (77.2) |
44.6 (112.3) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 12.5 (54.5) |
14.9 (58.8) |
19.0 (66.2) |
23.0 (73.4) |
27.0 (80.6) |
29.7 (85.5) |
31.6 (88.9) |
32.5 (90.5) |
31.4 (88.5) |
28.2 (82.8) |
20.3 (68.5) |
13.9 (57.0) |
23.7 (74.7) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) |
9.9 (49.8) |
13.6 (56.5) |
17.4 (63.3) |
21.6 (70.9) |
25.1 (77.2) |
27.6 (81.7) |
28.3 (82.9) |
26.1 (79.0) |
21.5 (70.7) |
14.3 (57.7) |
9.5 (49.1) |
18.6 (65.5) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.0 (41.0) |
5.9 (42.6) |
9.1 (48.4) |
12.6 (54.7) |
16.9 (62.4) |
21.3 (70.3) |
24.4 (75.9) |
25.2 (77.4) |
21.7 (71.1) |
16.2 (61.2) |
9.8 (49.6) |
6.2 (43.2) |
14.5 (58.1) |
Record low °C (°F) | −11.8 (10.8) |
−6.8 (19.8) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
1.5 (34.7) |
7.7 (45.9) |
11.6 (52.9) |
15.9 (60.6) |
15.4 (59.7) |
7.9 (46.2) |
2.3 (36.1) |
−3.0 (26.6) |
−6.6 (20.1) |
−11.8 (10.8) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 179.5 (7.07) |
162.0 (6.38) |
145.1 (5.71) |
108.4 (4.27) |
89.8 (3.54) |
20.3 (0.80) |
8.1 (0.32) |
5.4 (0.21) |
61.7 (2.43) |
56.0 (2.20) |
99.2 (3.91) |
188.7 (7.43) |
1,124.2 (44.26) |
Average precipitation days | 13.57 | 12.07 | 11.20 | 9.73 | 5.67 | 1.83 | 0.80 | 0.80 | 4.33 | 7.70 | 8.03 | 11.40 | 87.1 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 105.4 | 130.0 | 186.0 | 219.0 | 282.1 | 327.0 | 341.0 | 319.3 | 273.0 | 217.0 | 156.0 | 102.3 | 2,658.1 |
Mean daily sunshine hours | 3.4 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 7.3 | 9.1 | 10.9 | 11.0 | 10.3 | 9.1 | 7.0 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 7.3 |
Source: Turkish State Meteorological Service[38] |
Districts
Hatay province is divided into 15 districts,[39] listed below with their populations officially estimated as at 31 December 2022:[1]
Demographics
The majority of the population adheres to
During the
Language
As of 2016, 85% of Arabic-heritage-speaking people in relevant parts of Hatay, specifically those who hear and may use the language on a daily basis, believed its use was decreasing; the rest disagree. The Arabic-speaking Antiochian Greek Christian minority has the right to teach Arabic under the Treaty of Lausanne; however, they tend to refrain from doing so to avoid sectarian tensions as the treaty does not apply to the Muslim majority.[46]
Population
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1940 | 246,138 | — |
1950 | 296,799 | +1.89% |
1960 | 441,209 | +4.04% |
1970 | 591,064 | +2.97% |
1980 | 856,271 | +3.78% |
1990 | 1,109,754 | +2.63% |
2000 | 1,253,726 | +1.23% |
2010 | 1,480,571 | +1.68% |
2020 | 1,659,320 | +1.15% |
2021 | 1,670,712 | +0.69% |
2022 | 1,686,043 | +0.92% |
Source:Turkstat[47][48][49] |
Education
Transport
The province is served by Hatay Airport, as well as inter-city buses.
Culture
Cuisine
Hatay is warm enough to grow tropical crops such as
Animal products include spicy
Syrup of pomegranate (nar ekşisi) is Hatay's hallmark salad dressing.
Landmarks
- World's second-largest collection of mosaics in the Hatay Archaeology Museumat Antakya.
- saintsare buried and visited by Muslims.
- Rock-carved Church of St Peterin Antakya, a site of Christian pilgrimage.
- Gündüz cinema, once parliament building of the Republic of Hatay.
- Titus Tunnel of Samandağı, built as a water channel in the 2nd century.
- Castles:
Films
- Hatay is featured in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where it was portrayed as the final resting place of the Holy Grail in the fictitious "Canyon of the Crescent Moon" outside of Alexandretta. In the movie, set in 1938, the Nazis offer the Sultan of Hatay (a monarchy which the province never had in real life) 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.
Notable people
- Mehmet Aksoy – sculptor (b. Antakya 1939–) [2]
- Beşiktaş and Galatasarayfootballer, (b. Antakya 1981)
- Selçuk İnan – Trabzonspor and Galatasaray footballer, (b. İskenderun 1985)
- Fenerbahçefootballer, (b. İskenderun 1989)
- Yasin Özdenak – Retired Galatasaray footballer, (b. İskenderun 1948)
- Selami Şahin – musician, composer and actor (b. Yayladağı 1948)
See also
- Baku–Supsa Pipeline
- Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline
- Çukurova
- List of populated places in Hatay Province
Notes
- ^ Map does not show all existing Hatay settlements and their linguistic composition. Arnold Werner states that his research only covered half of the Arabic speaking villages (some 50 out of a 100). Arabic and Turkish speaking villages shown on map are only those covered by Werner's research and map. The map excludes the northern more Turkish-speaking parts of the province.
References
- ^ TÜİK. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-134-54742-5.
In the southernmost corner of Turkey, near Ceyhan, lies the province of Hatay, a pocket of land bounded to the west by the Mediterranean and to the south and east by Syria.
- ^ "İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri". General Directorate of Mapping. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ Bağırsakçı, Semir. "Antakya'nın Adı "Hatay" mıdır?". İskenderun Gazetesi. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
- ^ Darke, Diana (24 January 2018). "How historical Afrin became a prize worth a war". www.bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- ^ "Antakya".
- ^ "Map of Iskenderun, Joseph Roux, 1764". huji.ac.il. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- ISBN 0714650714, 9780714650715
- ^ "Syria – Turkey Boundary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
- ISBN 978-1-11178-485-0.
(In 1921 there were only 87,000 Turks amid a population of 220,000 that was primarily Arab)
- ^ Duiker & Spielvogel 2012, 192.
- ISBN 978-1-84511-141-0.
According to official French statistics of 1936 the total population (219,080) was made up as follows: Turks 38% Alawite Arabs 28% Sunni Arabs 10 Christians Arabs 8%
- ISBN 978-1-84511-076-5. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
According to estimates provided by the French High Commission in 1936, out of a population of 220,000 39 per cent were Turks, 28 per cent Alawites, 11 per cent Armenians, 10 per cent Sunni Arabs, 8 per cent other Christians, while Circassians, Jews and Kurds made up the remaining 4 per cent.
- ISBN 0-7546-3338-1.
- ^ Robert Fisk (19 March 2007). "Robert Fisk: US power games in the Middle East". The Independent. Archived from the original on November 10, 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-4000-7517-1.
- ISBN 978-0-415-38458-2
- ISBN 9781780767420.
- Minority Rights Group. 1991. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ISBN 9781111784850.
- ^ Arnold Twinby, 1938 Survey of International Affairs p. 484
- ^ a b parliament.gov.sy – معلومات عن الجمهورية العربية السورية Archived 2007-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "The Alexandretta Dispute", American Journal of International Law
- ^ Navon, Emmauel (20 December 2018). "Withdrawing from the Golan talks". www.jpost,com. Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ^ "Hatay'da yabancılara gayrimenkul satışı durduruldu". hurriyet.com.tr. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- ^ [1]"World Bulletin [ Eid-al-Adha greetings at Turkey-Syria border ]". Archived from the original on 2009-01-11. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- ^ "Interior Minister Inspects Bab al-Hawa Border Center, Emphasizes Ministry's Keenness on Providing Facilities :: Syrian Arab news agency - SANA - Syria : Syria news ::". Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
- ^ PM vows to build model partnership with Syria Today's Zaman 23 December 2010
- ^ Lundgren Jörum, Emma: "The Importance of the Unimportant" in Hinnebusch, Raymond & Tür, Özlem: Turkey-Syria Relations: Between Enmity and Amity (Farnham: Ashgate), p 114-122.
- ^ "Syria's "Lost Province": The Hatay Question Returns". carnegieendowment.org. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- ^ Lundgren Jörum, Emma: Beyond Syria's Borders: A history of territorial disputes in the Middle East (London & New York: I.B. Tauris), p 108
- ^ "Hatay province, Turkey from PHOTOS: Rescues continue after massive earthquake strikes Turkey and Syria". ABC News. February 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ^ "Türki̇ye - Earthquake Response 2023: Hatay Humanitarian Snapshot (2 May 2023)". ReliefWeb. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- ^ "Lütfü Savaş: Hatay'da 21 bin 910 kaybımız var" [Lütfü Savaş: We have 21 thousand 910 casualties in Hatay] (in Turkish). Ege'de Sonsöz. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "Hatay earthquake report released: 89,025 buildings lost". Gercek News. 8 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "Hatay'da son durum: '2 bine yakın yıkılmış bina var, kayıplarımız çok fazla'" [The latest situation in Hatay: 'There are nearly 2,000 destroyed buildings, our losses are too high']. BBC News (in Turkish). 6 February 2023. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ "Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution". Nature Scientific Data. DOI:10.1038/sdata.2018.214.
- ^ "Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)" (in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ISBN 9783110805451.
- ^ Kalkan, Ersin (2005-07-31). "Türkiye'nin tek Ermeni köyü Vakıflı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2007-02-22.
- ISBN 978-1-74104-556-7.
- ^ Radikal-çevrimiçi / Türkiye / Samandağ'da 'Alluş'la dans Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Spiritual leaders speak up in Hatay for global peace – Turkish Daily News Sep 27, 2005 Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Mültecilerin Şartları Kötü, Hatay'da Herkes Tedirgin" (in Turkish). Bianet. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ "For reasons out of our hands: A Community identifies the causes of language shift – Cultural Survival". culturalsurvival.org. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- ^ Genel Nüfus Sayımları
- ^ Turkstat
- ^ "The Results of Address Based Population Registration System, 2020". Turkish Statistical Institute. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
- ^ "Kaleler" (in Turkish). Hatay Directorate of Culture and Tourism. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
Bibliography
- Duiker, William J.; Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2012). World History. Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1111831653.
- Khadduri, M. (July 1945). "The Alexandretta Dispute". S2CID 155617277.
- Picard, Elizabeth (January 1982). "Retour au Sandjak". Maghreb-Machrek (in French) (99). Paris: 47–64. .
External links
- Hatay News
- pictures Photo Gallery Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
- the provincial governor's website
- Pictures of Antakya
- 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