| Hatay (Hatay Province/Alexandretta) - Hatay is a Turkish province, in the far south of the country, bordering Syria. It is claimed and controlled by Turkey, but Syria also claims full sovereignty, as it was historically a part of that country. It was mainly the Syrian province of Alexandretta, within the Ottoman Empire, and was then subsequently controlled by the French after the First World War ended, but declared it's independence in 1938 from French-run Syria. At this time it changed it's name from Alexandretta, to the Republic of Hatay, and through a public referendum, voted to become part of the Republic of Turkey. Nowadays Syria still claims sovereignty, but the issue has been left in the background recently, due to the growing political and economic ties between the two countries. |
