Dörtyol

For other places with the same name, see Dörtyol (disambiguation).

Dörtyol
Dörtyol
Coordinates: 36°50′34″N 36°13′28″E
Country	Turkey
Province	Hatay
Government
• Mayor	Yaşar Toksoy (MHP)
• Kaymakam	Recep Soytürk
Area
• District	599.97 km2 (231.65 sq mi)
Elevation	57 m (187 ft)
Population  (Template:Turkey district populations)Template:Turkey district populations
• Urban	Template:Turkey district populations
• District	Template:Turkey district populations
Post code	316xx
Website	www.dortyol.bel.tr

Dörtyol (Armenian: Չորք Մարզպան, Čork Marzban) is a city in Hatay Province, Turkey. It is a port city and oil terminus located 26 km north of the city of Iskenderun, near the easternmost point of the Mediterranean at the head of the Gulf of İskenderun.

Geography

The name Dörtyol means "crossroads" (literally "four roads") in Turkish, and indeed the town sits on a crossing of highways, especially the O-53 from Anatolia south into Hatay and on to Syria. The road is channelled along the narrow coastal strip with the Nur Mountains (the ancient Amanos) behind. Dörtyol is at the edge of the Çukurova Plain and being near the coast, is humid and the countryside is fairly green and fertile. Therefore, as well as oil-handling, the economic activities of the district include forestry, cotton, and the cultivation of citrus fruits, especially a local variety of tangerine.

History

This crossroads has seen the passage of numerous armies and some of the biggest military campaigns in history, including the Battle of Issus between Alexander the Great and Darius in 333 BC. In 1895 the Armenians of Chorkmarzban resisted the Hamidian Massacres. In 1909 during the Adana Massacre the Armenians of Dörtyol or Chorkmarzban resisted the massacres again, but large numbers perished. From 1919-1921 the Armenians again resisted the Armenian Genocide, but were almost completely exterminated. After the French and Turks agreed on the Syrian-Turkish border, Dörtyol fell on the Turkish side, and the surviving Armenians fled to Alexandretta, Aleppo, and Amman. More recently Dörtyol is remembered in Turkey as the scene of the first fighting in the Turkish War of Independence. The fighting with the occupying forces was ignited in Karakese which is located on the edge of the Nur mountains village. In 1918 Dörtyol was occupied by French troops. Turks in the area retreated to the hills and began their resistance under the leadership of Kara Hasan Paşa. Dörtyol was thus not part of the Republic of Hatay but was a Turkish district added to Hatay when the province was brought into the Turkish republic in 1939. Abaza Hasan Pasha

External links

• photos of Dörtyol
• Dortyol Guide