Background Formerly part of the
Aleppo Vilayet of the
Ottoman Empire, the
Sanjak of Alexandretta was occupied by
France at the end of the
First World War and constituted part of the French Mandate of Syria. The Sanjak of Alexandretta was an autonomous
sanjak from 1921 to 1923, as a result of the Franco-Turkish
Treaty of Ankara, as it had a large Turkish community as well as its Arab and Armenian population. Then it was attached to the
State of Aleppo, then in 1925 it was directly attached to the State of Syria, still with a special administrative status.
Marshal Mustafa Kemal Pasha (later known as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk), refused to accept the Sanjak of Alexandretta as part of the Mandate and, in a speech on 15 March 1923 in
Adana, he described the Sanjak as "A homeland where Turks lived for centuries and can't be a captive at the hands of enemy". Turkish policy aimed at annexing the Sanjak of Alexandretta when the French mandate of Syria was due to expire in 1935. Turks in Alexandretta initiated reforms in the style of Atatürk's, and formed various organisations and institutions in order to promote the idea of union with the
Republic of Turkey. of congratulation sent by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk after the proclamation of Hatay State. In 1936, the elections returned two Syrian independentist MPs (favouring the independence of Syria from France) in the
sanjak, and this prompted communal riots and passionate articles in the Turkish and Syrian press. In particular,
Arab nationalist Zaki al-Arsuzi was influential. In response, the Atatürk government coined the name
Hatay for the Sanjak of Alexandretta, as a reference to
Hittites (
Syro-Hittite states), and raised the "Issue of Hatay" () at the
League of Nations. On behalf of the League of Nations, representatives of France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and Turkey prepared a constitution for the
sanjak. The new statute came into power in November 1937, the
sanjak becoming 'distinct but not separated' from Syria on the diplomatic level, linked to both France and Turkey for military matters. The French encouraged the annexation, hoping it would act as an incentive to Turkey to reject an alliance with
Nazi Germany.
Hashim al-Atassi, the
President of the
Syrian Republic, resigned in protest at the 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.
Legislature The Hatay State Peoples Assembly () was a parliament that consisted of 40 members, consisting of 22
Turks, nine
Alawites, five
Armenians, two
Orthodox Greeks and two
Sunni Arabs. The Hatay government utilized the
parliamentary system while it was active. Following the annexation, almost the entire Armenian population of Hatay had settled in
Aleppo, with many others moving to Lebanon where they founded the modern town of
Anjar near the ruins of its historic castle. ==Constitution==