Hatay Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
province of Turkey
About Hatay
Hatay is a geopolitical oddity: it is the only piece of land annexed by Turkey after its modern boundaries were defined in the Lausanne and Ankara Treaties of 1923 and 1926, respectively. From 1920, after the collapse of theOttoman EmpirefollowingWorld War I, the province came underFrench administrationas part of the French Mandate ofSyriaand was then known as theSandjak(county)of Alexandretta. However, a significant ethnic Turkish population remained. Perhaps in anticipation of Turkish support in the widely (and rightly) expectedupcoming war, the French relinquished control in 1938 under Turkish pressure, and the area appeared on the maps as the independentState of Hatay, a name coined after the ancientHittitesby Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, to associate the area be
Hatay Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 14 sections including: