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Hatay dispute

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The Hatay dispute emerged when Turkey annexed Hatay Province from the newly independent Syria in 1939. The Hatay dispute remains a controversial problem between Syria and Turkey from time to time.[1][2]

History

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During the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. After the Armistice of Mudros, the Sanjak of Alexandretta (modern day Hatay) was occupied by France. Thus, the Turkish National Movement formed a front in Hatay.[3] On October 20, 1921, according to Article 7 of the Treaty of Ankara, Hatay would remain within the borders of Syria; although with the Turkish language and lira being official.[4]

Maps as old as 1764 had shown that Hatay was traditionally Syrian.[5] In 1936, out of the 220,000 people in Hatay, 46% were Arabs, 39% were Turks, 11% were Armenians, and the remaining 4% was made up of Circassians, Jews, and Kurds.[6][7] In the Treaty of Lausanne, Hatay was also included as a part of Syria.[8] Also in the Treaty of Lausanne, the Hatay dispute was not specifically mentioned, although France had withdrew from the Sanjak of Alexandretta in 1936 and gave it to Syria. Turkey refused to recognise Hatay as Syrian. When the meetings with France at the League of Nations meeting in Geneva did not yield results, they gave an official note to France on October 9, 1936, asking for the independence of the Sanjak of Alexandretta from Syria.[9]

In his opening speech to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on November 1, 1936, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stated that "a major issue that keeps our nation busy day and night is the fate of İskenderun, Antakya, and their surroundings, of which the Turk is the true owner of. We are serious about it and we definitely have to end it. This is the only and big issue between us and France, whom we always emphasise the importance of friendship with. Those who know the truth of this affair, and those who love the truth, understand and see the violence and sincerity of our affair."[10] Atatürk had also told the French Ambassador to Turkey that "Hatay is my personal case. You must know that, it won't be a joke."[11] Atatürk also claimed that Hatay had been Turkish for 4,000 years, due to the false Sun Language Theory.[12]

Concerned that Atatürk may possibly invade Hatay, the French made a military agreement in which an election would be made in Hatay, although Turkish troops, under the command of Şükrü Kanatlı, entered Hatay before the elections could be made. In a speech, Şükrü Kanatlı said "I brought the greetings of Atatürk, the Army, and the homeland to the people of Hatay." Turks of Hatay welcomed Kanatlı and the crowds shouted "long live Atatürk". The Hatay State was established on September 2, 1938, after the Turkish government hosted elections on August 13. The Hatay Republic joined Turkey on June 29, 1939, after a referendum.[13] Many Arabs doubted the authenticity of the referendum, and claimed that it was rigged in favor of Turks.[14][15] Many Arabs also fled to Syria after the annexation of Hatay by Turkey.[16] Arabs of Hatay protested the Turkification, and in 1930, Zaki al-Arsuzi became one of the biggest critics of Turkey's policies, and he became a symbol of the Arab struggle in Hatay.[17]

Syrians condemned France for violating their own mandatory responsibility to protect Syrian lands as part of article 4 of the mandate charter of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. Many Arabs rejected the referendum results and claimed that the number of Turkish voters in the Hatay referendum was much higher than the number of Turks in Hatay.[18]

The common sentiment among Syrians is that Hatay was illegally given to Turkey by France. Official Syrian maps continued to show Hatay as part of Syria.[19][20]

The Syrian community blamed Britain and France for cooperating with Turkey on the Hatay dispute, and accused them of ignoring the Arabs of Hatay and their demands.[21] The President of the Syrian Assembly sent a letter to the French government and the League of Nations Council, declaring that Hatay is Syrian and that Syria does not recognise the accession of Hatay to Turkey.[22]

October 21, 1989 an airplane of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre of Turkey was shot down by a Syrian mig-21 jet, which violated the border in the Altınözü district of Hatay. In the incident, İsmail Faik Ayten, Talat Gencer, Yusuf Gören, Fikri Köşker, and Selahattin Çelik lost their lives. Although the Syrian delegation instantly blamed the attack on Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia or the Kurdistan Workers' Party, investigations confirmed that it was entirely Syrian pilots who carried out the attack.[23][24] When Bashar al-Assad came power, there was a lessening of the tensions as Assad did not demand that Hatay should be returned to Syria, however no official agreement was made.[25] Under Assad, much progress was achieved, and 50 agreements were signed between Turkey and Syria in December 2009, although a water agreement over the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was halted when Turkey asked Syria to officially recognize Hatay as a Turkish province.[26]

Syrian media was silent on the issue.[27] In February 2011, the dispute over Hatay was almost solved, with both countries acknowledging the border, and planning to build a shared dam on the Orontes River. However, as a result of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan staunchly supporting the Syrian National Army during the Syrian civil war, all progress was halted, and the dispute over Hatay resurfaced. Syrian media began broadcasting documentaries about the Arabness of Hatay, the history of the area, the Turkish annexation, and Turkification. Syrian organizations and parties also demanded an "end to the Turkish occupation".[28] However, Bashar al-Assad had never directly mentioned the Hatay dispute.[29] Tensions rose even further as a result of the demographic change in Hatay due to an increase in Syrian refugees.[30]

The slogan "Hatay is Turkish and will remain Turkish" is used by Turkish nationalists.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Atabey, Figen (15 Temmuz 2015). "HATAY'IN ANAVATANA KATILMA SÜRECİ". Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi. 3 (7): 193-209. doi:10.33692/avrasyad.509271. ISSN 2147-2610.
  2. ^ Şafak, Yeni. "Suriye Parlamentosu'ndan bildiri: Hatay'ı geri alacağız | Ortadoğu Haberleri". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  3. ^ Tahsin Ünal, Türk Siyasî Tarihi, s. 575.
  4. ^ Picard, Elizabeth (Spring 1982). "Retour au Sandjak". Maghreb-Machrek (in French) (99). Paris: Documentation française.
  5. ^ "Map of Iskenderun, Joseph Roux, 1764". huji.ac.il. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  6. ^ Brandell, Inga (2006). State Frontiers: Borders and Boundaries in the Middle East. I.B.Tauris. p. 144. 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.
  7. ^ Kieser, Hans-Lukas (2006). Turkey Beyond Nationalism: Towards Post-Nationalist Identities. I.B.Tauris. p. 61. 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%
  8. ^ Fahir Armaoğlu, XX. Yüzyıl Siyasî Tarihi, s. 323-324.
  9. ^ Fahir Armaoğlu, XX. Yüzyıl Siyasî Tarihi, s. 348.
  10. ^ Ruşen Eşref Ünaydın, Hatıralar, s. 5-6.
  11. ^ Falih Rıfkı Atay, Atatürkçülük Nedir?, s. 44.
  12. ^ Duiker, William J.; Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2012). World History. Cengage Learning. p. 192. ISBN 978-1111831653.
  13. ^ Bekir Tünay ATATÜRK ARAŞTIRMA MERKEZİ DERGİSİ, Sayı 5, Cilt: II, Mart 1986
  14. ^ Jack Kalpakian (2004). Identity, Conflict and Cooperation in International River Systems (Hardcover ed.). Ashgate Publishing. p. 130. ISBN 0-7546-3338-1.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "ARMENIA AND KARABAGH" (PDF). Minority Rights Group. 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  17. ^ Choueiri, Youssef M. (2001-03-16). Arab Nationalism: A History Nation and State in the Arab World. Wiley. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-631-21729-9.
  18. ^ Arnold Twinby, 1938 Survey of International Affairs p. 484
  19. ^ parliament.gov.sy – معلومات عن الجمهورية العربية السورية Archived 2007-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "The Alexandretta Dispute", American Journal of International Law
  21. ^ TÜRKİYE - SURİYE İLİŞKİLERİ Zişan ŞİRİN AYRANCI sayfa 66
  22. ^ Melek Fırat- Ömer Kürkçüoğlu, “Ortadoğu’yla İlişkiler”, Türk Dış Politikası sayfa 290
  23. ^ Milliyet gazetesi 22 Ekim 1989 12. Sayfa "Suriye Uçağımızı düşürdü"
  24. ^ Milliyet gazetesi 23 Ekim 1989 11. Sayfa "Suriye saldırısı vahim"
  25. ^ Navon, Emmauel (20 December 2018). "Withdrawing from the Golan talks". www.jpost,com. Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  26. ^ PM vows to build model partnership with Syria Today's Zaman 23 December 2010
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ "Syria's "Lost Province": The Hatay Question Returns". carnegieendowment.org. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  29. ^ Lundgren Jörum, Emma: Beyond Syria's Borders: A history of territorial disputes in the Middle East (London & New York: I.B. Tauris), p 108
  30. ^ "Hatay Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanı Savaş'tan Suriyeli çıkışı. Hatay'ı kaybetmekten korkuyorum". Yeniçağ Gazetesi (in Turkish). 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  31. ^ AŞKAR, Levent (2022-07-01). "Kurt: Hatay Türk'tür, Türk kalacak" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2024-03-13.
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